Were you there when the pharaohs commissioned the sphinx?
by Kycklingk
Summary: Cassandra feels like no one understands her fascination with the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, but is there another Jellicle who can share her feelings?
1. Chapter 1

**This is me combining my lifelong obsession with Egypt with my latest obsession with Cats. This will be a story about finding friendship when you feel lonely and misunderstood and how much is gained from daring to open up to someone else. I had a really fun time writing this and I hope you will like it.**

 **Everyone reviewing gets a funfact about Egypt! (Or about abyssinian cats which I had to research a bit for this one) So come on, send me a review or pm, it will be fun!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Cats.**

 **Disclaimer 2: I have simplified some of the traditions of ancient Egypt, they had loads of different gods, and a lot more than Bastet that symbolized love, family and fertility, but since this is a cat story I kept it simple, but feel free to ask about others or point out errors!**

Cassandra knew that most of the Jellicles respected her, but she also knew that a great deal of them made fun of her from time to time. Nothing really mean but she knew they thought she took herself too seriously. And she agreed with them in some aspects. But when she felt strongly about something she didn't want to do it half hearted. She wanted to let it consume her, and that she had in common with the other Jellicles. Tugger had his casanova-persona, Jennyanydots her cockroach-project, Gus had his theater, Skimble his trains, Misto his magic. They all went all in and let it become the biggest part of their personalities. It was just that they all could do it with a glimpse in their eyes. Cassandra couldn't really. She remembered it first when she saw the others roll their eyes and she knew she should have lightened up the mood some time ago. And her looks didn't help her either, her fur was impeccable, she didn't have any stripes, dots, long hair or glitter. It was sleek and chocolate brown, she looked exactly like the show cat she was, pedigree and an expensive collar from her family, all that was missing were one of the many bows she had won. Her moonlit eyes had nothing of the quirky sparkle of the others, it was all depth and mystery.

All of this was of course things that the others respected about her, but also things they found peculiar. If she had been another Jellicle they would have teased her about it openly. She wanted to be able to laugh about it but on those rare occasions that the others had teased her about it she had been so engrossed in the subject that she had gotten confused about the change of tone and just looked at the others with a frown. When she realised that they had been making a joke the moment had passed and the subject had usually changed. She always bit her tongue and decided not to let herself get so engaged next time, but since she was a Jellicle she couldn't control that part of herself. If it was something she could do, it was to relax a bit more while she talked about it, then she would maybe be able to engage the others in her interest.

That was probably where the big problem in it lay. The other Jellicles had other tribe members or others that shared their interests. Everyone loved Tugger when he put on a show, Jenny engaged hoards of cockroaches and mice in her projects, Skimble shared his interest with both passengers and staff at the station, Gus had all his old theater contacts that he drank and talked memories with and Misto's magic was something that the whole tribe both enjoyed and had a tremendous benefit from. No one shared her interest. Which made the opportunities she could talk about it scarce and she couldn't really control herself when she got the chance. She just dived into it as deep as she could so that the moment didn't pass too quickly.

There was no other moment she felt the same pride in her heritage as when she got to sing about it during the Jellicle ball. The others loved it when she sang about the Jellicles moonlit eyes, no other cat could do it like her, but she knew they all rolled their eyes when she sang about the pharaohs. But at that moment she felt the pride of her ancestors flow through her and she could feel no shame. On one occasion only had she been forced to defend her line and after nailing Munkustrap with her famous moonlit eyes and demanding it stayed he hadn't brought the subject up again. She rarely took such a serious stand in matters and he could respect her when she did.

But no one shared her interest. She was an abyssinian cat and her ancestors had been portrayed on the temples and in the pyramids of ancient Egypt. She could understand that the others had a hard time keeping up the same kind of interest in the history as her since they didn't have the personal connection, but it didn't make the sorrow of being alone with it any less. Cassandra had always felt like she was a Jellicle in soul and heart, but there was still something that was missing. Some piece of history that made her feel like she missed home even though she had never left London. She had met other abyssinian cats when she was at cat shows with her human family, and she had met them when she was walking around London as well, but that just made her realise what big part of her that was a Jellicle. The other cats didn't understand her in the way that the Jellicle tribe did. Other cats had minds of their own but those didn't expand beyond their house and their human family. That was their universe and when she tried to explain her interest by comparing it with the other Jellicles interests, they just looked at her confused. She was more Jellicle than anything else, but that knowledge still left a piece of her puzzle unsolved and no one understood her.

It wasn't the end of the world though. She still loved her tribe and she took great joy in the others personal eccentricities. She tried to be satisfied with the fact that she lived a better life with the Jellicles than she ever could wish for anywhere else and that this fascination had to be just hers. And she didn't depend on the others to engage herself in something she wanted. She could still be amazed over the role that her ancestors had played in history, the others lack of interest didn't have to hold hers back. But if Cassandra could wish for one thing it would be someone to share some of it with. Someone who'd listen and maybe ask a few questions.

She had Alonzo, her mate. They shared a den and they talked everyday, but it was mostly about the tribe and what had happened during the day. She had tried to interest him with remarkable facts about the respect the ancient egypts had for cats and he tried to listen, but quite soon he drifted off and stopped listening. He was the perfect mate in every way, what she needed was a friend to confide in.

One thing that had been essential to learn was to read. She had practised it ever since she was a kitten and that meant that she could sneak off to the library or the museum and dive deep into knowledge when she wanted to know more. She had followed the different guides through the museum more times than she could count but she still felt like there was some new information that she picked up each time. The guides had stopped chasing her out of the museum but she couldn't discuss history with them. They just didn't understand each other.

* * *

But something had changed during the last Jellicle ball. She had been taken seriously by someone she thought never would. Misto had chosen her for his stunt and had helped her to act during his performance. She had quickly picked up his instructions and followed them and the stunt had been perfect. Afterwards they had danced together and he had sincerely praised her. He said that she was really good at picking up instructions and that he admired the way she had been able to focus when he performed magic. No one had taken a sincere interest in the work of his magic like that before, the others were just amazed about the effects. But she had been focused on the work and not only the effect and he was really glad he had asked her. Cassandra had felt herself blushing at the compliments but she was also surprised. There was another Jellicle who felt lonely in their domain and that the others didn't understand them.

Misto ended the dance too quickly for her to respond but she felt warmth in her heart thinking about it. She wondered how Misto coped with the others not understanding him. Because he was apparently much better than her at handling it. She smiled when she thought back to the dance. Misto had kissed her paw, looking her in the eyes and thanked her. She hoped he meant the understanding and not the dance or helping with the performance. The rest of the ball she had felt a bit lost. He had really left her with a lot to think about, but he himself seemed to have moved on immediately and interacted with the others just like he normally did. 'How did he do it?' she thought.

"It looked like you and Misto had a good time at the ball?" said Alonzo casually as they came back to their den that morning but Cassandra could hear that there was some worry in his question. He was quite the flirt himself but she knew he had always thought she was too good for him and he worried there would be a day when she realised that. He would do anything to keep her around. She smiled at him.

"Yes, I didn't know we had that much in common actually, but we worked really well together during his performance" she said and felt proud about it. "But I think the poor tom got a bit nervous afterwards when we danced, I didn't get a word out before he bolted" she said and laughed a little, trying to take the edge off both the current situation and her feelings about what Misto had said. He had acted so normal afterwards that she was starting to doubt that she had read him right.

"What did he talk about then?" said Alonzo trying to laugh as well but with a worried frown between his eyes.

"He just thought we had worked together so well, I wished I had gotten the chance to tell him he did good as well, Oh well, let's hope he asks for help again" she said with a smile, but when she saw Alonzo's expression she quickly added "You have nothing to worry about love, it was just a friend helping another friend, you know you are the only one for me" she said and nuzzled him. He kissed her and then held her tightly.

"You are too good for me, promise you will never understand that?" he said and stroke his paw over her cheek.

"Promise" she answered him before they fell asleep together.

* * *

She had built up her courage during the week that followed the ball. She had been so close to talk to Misto about it but the more time that passed she felt like he probably didn't feel like her. She started doubting that he had really said things the way he had and that he probably didn't mean it like she hoped for. And it was more likely that he had thanked her about the help and the dance rather than the understanding. She hadn't really said anything to him at all, so how could he know she understood him? She had probably just made a hen out of a feather. But there was a feeling lingering that he actually would understand her if she would just ask him. She was more distracted than normal and felt really silly for doubting herself like that. She was a Jellicle, if there was something she had to be it was proud! She shouldn't reduce herself to be worth less than the others. The fact that the others didn't share her interest shouldn't stand in the way of her love for it. But it was like the hope of being understood also had planted a seed of doubt in her. The chance of being understood also included the risk of being rejected.

Cassandra had chickened out yet again on her way over to Misto. She had seen him in the main clearing of the junkyard and decided to just go over and talk about anything, it didn't have to be her pressing issue, just anything and maybe the rest would come. But when she was closing in on him she changed her mind again and trailed off to the side. For a second their eyes met before she hurried on. If she just picked up the pace a bit more she would be at the museum just in time for the guide Justin, which was her favourite.

* * *

Misto saw Cassandra moving over the clearing towards him. She wasn't her usual self. She had been looking distracted and nervous ever since the ball and he hoped he had nothing to do with it. But he had been blabbering on about how she understood him like nobody else and hadn't given her the chance to speak at all. And then he had felt so embarrassed that he just kissed her paw and thanked her before he turned towards the others and tried to act like normal. He hoped she had thought he thanked her for the dance and the help and not for him going on and on about how she understood him. He felt embarrassed just thinking about it. He had no idea if she had understood him at all, he hadn't given her the chance to say anything and he had seen that she blushed when he talked. He surely went over the top in his praise. 'Ugh, I hope I didn't make things awkward between us' he thought. He couldn't really decipher the look he had gotten from Alonzo after he kissed Cassandra's paw but he didn't want to offend the bigger tom. Everyone knew Cassandra was Alonzo's but he himself would have gotten away with both kissing another queens paw and probably even more. 'If it weren't for Tugger, that would be the casanova of the junkyard' thought Misto.

Misto looked up as Cassandra came closer, but just as their eyes met he saw her changing direction slightly and hurry away towards the entrance. She had really been acting differently after the ball and Misto could feel his conscience nagging at him. He had made her feel uncomfortable. Maybe she even thought he had a crush on her? 'Oh Everlasting Cat, let's hope no one thinks that' he thought and instinctively looked over at Alonzo. He was a bit scared of what he could do if someone would flirt with his mate. Misto hoped they hadn't talked about him but if Cassandra was as uncomfortable as it seemed they probably had. He shook his head. 'I might as well make this right again' he thought and hurried after Cassandra. With her long legs she was well ahead of him but he took some help from his magic to catch up with her.

"Cassandra!" he shouted after her to get her to stop. He saw her stiffen before she turned around and smiled at him. He could see that the smile was not completely genuine and he braced himself to repair this.

"Misto, I didn't hear you earlier, I hope you haven't chased me in vain for long?" she asked trying to be relaxed and not let her serious self take too much place.

"I took some help from magic to catch up with you" he said and waved his paws a bit awkwardly like that would explain it. "I wanted to talk to you.." he said and felt unsure about where to start.

"Yes?" said Cassandra looking at him, her eyes gave away nothing like always.

"I..eh.. did I make you uncomfortable during the ball? I didn't mean anything by it, I just needed someone to help me with the magic and then I wanted to thank you while dancing but I just ended up talking about myself and then I didn't want Alonzo to think I was flirting with you and I-" he stopped talking when Cassandra held up her paws to slow him down.

"You have to give me a chance to talk" she said in a calm tone. She had been taken aback a little about how nervous Misto had been. When he arrived she had seen nothing but his usual vague and aloof behaviour, but maybe that was just what showed on the outside? 'He might not be as calm as he appeared normally' she thought and realised that it might not be Misto that handled the other cats disinterest better than her but that he only didn't show his reactions as clearly as she did.

"I'm sorry, I talk too much when I am nervous" he said apologetically.

"You have nothing to worry about, and you didn't make me uncomfortable at all" said Cassandra reassuringly. "But you gave me a lot to think about and since you left me so quickly after the dance I didn't get to ask you what you meant about it" she continued and hoped it didn't sound like an accusation.

"Oh, okey" said Misto confused. "You can ask me now if you want to? Or were you going somewhere? Am I interrupting you? Should I leave?" he asked and Cassandra smiled when she realised he really did talk too much when he was nervous.

"Actually, I was going somewhere, do you want to come with me?" she asked and hoped that maybe Misto would understand her better if he saw what she talked about.

"Absolutely" he said with a smile and he followed her as she started walking towards the museum.

* * *

Cassandra knew that they would not be able to catch the whole guided tour but the best part came close to the end. And that way it wouldn't be so long if Misto didn't think it was interesting, but if he did she could fill him in on the parts they had missed.

They followed the guide through the museum silently. Cassandra glanced nervously over at Misto, not knowing if he was quiet because he was bored or focused. He had been talking so much earlier that she couldn't help but think that there was something wrong. Even though it was good that he wasn't nervous and spoke too much it still bothered her that he was so quiet. She couldn't really concentrate on the tour and tried to read Misto's mind to no success. When the tour ended the crowd gave a small applause but no one stayed for questions and the two cats were left alone with Justin. He smiled at Cassandra and leaned down to pet her.

"Did you bring a friend here today?" he said as he scratched her behind her ear. "I'm so happy for you dear, you always look so sad when you are alone but you look much happier today" he looked over at Misto and held out his hand for Misto to smell it.

"Justin owns a pollicle I think" she explained. "Just smell his hand a bit and he'll pet you if you want to" she said and Misto sniffed the hand with some hesitation and got some scratches behind his ear as well.

"He seems nice" said Misto a bit confused.

"You two stay here, I will be right back" said Justin. "If you understand any of this and I'm not just some weirdo talking to cats.." he mumbled as he walked off.

"Where is he going?" asked Misto but he had something else on his mind.

"I don't know, usually I don't stay" said Cassandra. For some reason she didn't want to admit that Justin or any of the other guides just gave her a quick pet occasionally since they had stopped to chase her out of the museum. She hadn't realised that they had kept their eyes on her, and she hadn't realised that she looked sad when she came there. But when she thought about it she usually went there when she felt the most misunderstood by the others and that probably showed.

"Oh wow, so you actually do understand me?" said Justin when he came back. "I don't know if this is of any interest for you but my dog really likes them so..." he trailed off and held out his hand with two bits of dog candy for them. It smelled almost like the candy Cassandra got from her family but the pieces were larger. She accepted hers politely but nibbled it carefully before she dared to eat more. She nodded towards Misto that it tasted okey and he accepted his piece as well.

"Well, I have to get back to work" said Justin as he raised up again. "But feel free to come back any time, and to bring your boyfriend" he said and waved at them awkwardly before he left.

The both cats had stiffened at the last comment. Misto felt himself blush and Cassandra hoped to the Everlasting Cat that Misto did not think they were on a date.

"I hope you didn't think.." she said but wasn't sure how to finish the sentence.

"No, no not at all" said Misto quickly with his eyes widened in what looked like panic. He suddenly felt uncomfortable about the fact that he wasn't sure who had seen him go after Cassandra and that they had been gone together for quite some time. "I am glad you brought me though" he added. "Do you think Alonzo will mind?" he finally said and swallowed hard.

"It's none of his business where I go with my friends" said Cassandra with a smile to make sure that they were both clear about the friend situation.

"I guess so" said Misto and smiled back, glad that she had been the one who said it. "Is it true that-" he started asking at the same time that Cassandra started talking.

"So what did you-" she said and stopped when they interrupted each other "You go first" they both said at the same time. They laughed and she nodded to Misto to go on.

"I just wondered.. Is it true what he said that you always are sad when you go here?" asked Misto and hoped that she wouldn't think he was snooping.

"Not sad really" she said quickly but frowned. "Well, actually, I usually come here when I feel like no one understands me" she admitted but had a hard time looking Misto in the eyes. It felt unfair to the other Jellicles, they just didn't share her interest, it wasn't that they didn't care.

"You feel that way too?" he asked surprised. He had thought that she didn't care about the others. She always looked so cool and relaxed and whenever someone tried to tease her and joke with her she never laughed at herself to please the others. He had no idea how she did it but he wished he could be able to take himself more seriously and not feel like he had to laugh it off when the others started teasing him for going into too much detail about his acts.

"I had no idea someone else felt the same way until you told me at the ball" she said feeling embarrassed.

"Oh good, then you understood what I meant even though I just kept babbling on" Misto said relieved.

"But I don't know how you make it, I thought you loved the attention for your stunts and I have never seen you take offense when the others tease you" said Cassandra frowning her eyebrows. "You always seem so cool and just laugh at them" she added looking at him curiously.

"I am always jealous of _you_ who can just ignore them, I wish I could take myself more seriously and not always please the others" he said looking back at her equally curious.

The two cats just stood looking at each other for a moment. 'How could it be that the two cats that understood each others best had misunderstood the other one so thoroughly?' thought Cassandra. She shook her head smiling.

"So what did you think of the tour?" she asked changing the subject. She was still very much afraid that Misto would reject her.

"I loved it!" said Misto spontaneously. "I know you have said that the cats were important to the old egyptians but I had no idea it was like that! They made paintings and sculptures and did you see the sphinx?" Misto went on and Cassandra had to laugh at his excitement.

"Haha yeah I have seen most of the museum" she laughed. It was amazing that he had understood her.

"And all the cats look very much like you!" he said when he realised that it was probably her ancestors who had been the inspiration for paintings and sculptures. "But not the sphinx?" he said with a frown as he realised that it looked more human than catlike.

"No I know, it's a human with the body of a lion but it's what most people recognize, I can't very well sing about the cat god Bastet, no one knows who that is" she explained amused.

"There was a cat god of Egypt? Do you think she is the Everlasting Cat?" asked Misto and Cassandra's eyes widened. She had felt silly for hoping it was like that but hearing Misto drawing the conclusion so quickly made her put more value on her own reasoning. She started to realise how much of her thoughts she had discarded due to the others disinterest. She reminded herself that no matter what the others thought, she would not let that hold her back.

They started walking back towards the junkyard talking about the different complications of the possibility that their own Everlasting Cat had originated from the ancient cat god Bastet. Cassandra explained how the abyssinian cats had been brought from Ethiopia by the british imperialists and it might have been them who brought the celebration of the cat god with them which eventually resulted in the Everlasting Cat that the Jellicles saluted at the ball. She could feel her cheeks heat up in excitement but tried to be perceptive of Misto's continued interest as she spoke. He asked several questions and pointed out some connections that she hadn't made herself yet. When they reached the entrance of the junkyard they paused in the discussion and stopped just out of sight from the others.

"Don't you ever want to go there and see the sphinx, the pyramids, the statues for yourself?" asked Misto putting a paw on her shoulder.

"Well of course I would, but it's not like it's just around the corner!" said Cassandra smiling.

"If you want to go, I can take you" said Misto but froze when he saw the shocked expression of the queens face. He had thought about it on the way back and it would be tough but he was sure he could use his magic to bring her there like he had conjured back Old Deuteronomy from Macavity. The distances were far greater and it would be the two of them but he was certain he could make it if he just practised a little bit more. But he didn't get any reaction at all from Cassandra. He wondered if he had crossed some sort of line with the request, 'Maybe it was one thing to spend an afternoon together like this but far less okey to do something like that?' he thought. "Of course you could bring Alonzo" he tried, feeling embarrassed that he had ruined the good mood. That seemed to snap her out of it.

"Haha why would I want to bring him? He would be bored before we got there" she laughed but then got serious again. "Are you serious about this?" she asked suspiciously, it was too good to be true.

"Absolutely" said Misto relieved. "I just need a little more practise but I am certain I can do it" he said. He had thought she would become happy but to his surprise she started to cry. He squeezed her shoulder a bit not knowing what to do.

"Thank you" she whispered and then she hugged him. Misto got a bit startled but compose himself and hugged her back.

"Are you ok?" he asked after a while when it sounded like she had stopped crying.

"Yes" she said and drew back with a smile. "Yes, I just can't believe it" she said happily.

"Give me a few days to prepare" said Misto. "Maybe you could help me practise? You were of great help at the last ball" he added.

"Of course! Let's start first thing tomorrow" she decided with a smile. They hugged one last time before they went back into the junkyard to the others.

Cassandra looked like she had never been this happy before and Misto smiled to himself. 'Let's keep one surprise' he thought.

 **TBC.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter, yay! No one has reviewed yet so I'll just treat everybody to a fun fact about Egypt :D Did you know that the ancient egypts had cats as pets, and that they were beloved family members, when a family cat died the family shaved of their eyebrows to honor them?**

 **But I see that a lot of you have read this story and I hope you like it, if you want to write a review you will make my day :)**

 **Oh, I tried to keep Tugger out of this story, stuff him down a bureau drawer but we all know the fuss he makes when he can't get out. This will still be about Cassandra and Misto though, I'll try to keep him in the background.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Cats and I have simplified some facts about Egypt.**

When they arrived back at the junkyard after their visit to the museum Misto didn't dare to look over at Alonzo, he just quickly took off towards Tugger and his fan club hoping he was safe there. He had no idea how the tom would react about the fact that he had spent the afternoon alone with his mate. Cassandra had been very clear that it wasn't Alonzo's business who she was friends with but still, Misto was not so sure the other tom would find it as obvious.

Cassandra came back to the others with a smile and saw that Alonzo made his way towards her. She looked at him and smiled wider. She knew what he was thinking and that he did his best not to let it show.

"Hey Cassie, you look happy" he said trying to smile but she could see him gnawing at the inside of his cheek.

"Yes, Misto followed me to the museum today and we had a great time" she said and kissed him. "I have missed you though" she said and saw Alonzo relax a little.

"I've missed you too" he said and kissed her. "So, did Misto get to meet the famous Justin?" he said and rolled his eyes teasing her.

"Haha as a matter of fact he did, oh you're not gonna believe what happened, we ate dog candy!" she said and started laughing.

"Dog candy!? I thought cats were the candy for pollicles" he said looking both amused and disgusted. Cassandra laughed at him. His sense of humor was one of the things she liked most about him.

"It might have been cat in it for all I know, it tasted like chicken" she said between laughs and Alonzo couldn't hold it back either. The other Jellicles looked over at them wondering what was so funny. Cassandra just waved it off and steadied herself against her mate. "Want to go home?" she asked when they both could talk again. They went back to their den together, Alonzo holding his arm over her shoulders.

As they came closer to their den, Cassandra noticed that Alonzo got quieter and she suspected what was on his mind.

"Since I know you hate asking, There is nothing between me and Misto except friendship, but I think there is more friendship between us than I thought at first" she said knowing that she had to tell him about the plans they had made for the the trip and the practise.

"Does Misto feel the same way?" Alonzo asked carefully and Cassandra felt stupid for not knowing that was what was on his mind.

"I made sure we both knew this was only on friendly terms" she said and saw Alonzo relax. "And even if he felt something he is terrified of what you would do if anyone tried anything with me" she added and could have bit her tongue off if that had taken it back. Alonzo stiffened.

"What does that mean?" he said and looked offended.

"Nothing" she said quickly. "It's just that you sometimes seem to get a bit jealous when I spend time with another tom, but I know you wouldn't do anything and there will never be a reason for it either because all I want is you" she said taking his paw and looking him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry Cassandra, I love you, but I don't want to be a controlling, jealous mate who doesn't let you be with your friends! I just... can't bear the thought of losing you" he said apologetically.

"Then don't bear it, we are forever, right?" she said and pulled him closer for a kiss. He surprised her by picking her up and while kissing her he carried her into their den and lay her down on their bed.

"Forever is a long time, I will have to try my best to make it worth it" he said with a cheeky smile. He kissed her and let the kisses wander off down her neck. She purred and pulled him back up for a kiss.

"You _are_ worth it, I love you too you know" she said. She felt happier than she had in a long time, she had a loving mate and a new best friend and her lifelong dream would hopefully soon come true. 'I couldn't ask for anything more' she thought with a smile.

"Have kittens with me?" Alonzo asked and she could see that he still was terrified deep inside that she would say no.

"I thought you would never ask" she said smiling and kissed him. She could feel him smiling back through the kiss.

* * *

Misto had seen Alonzo hurrying over to Cassandra when they came back and he couldn't relax until he heard them both laughing together. For a moment he got afraid that they were laughing at him but then he reminded himself that there was nothing to worry about. He had made a new friend today. One that wanted to know him deep down and to see more than just flashy magic effects. A friend that had shared one of her biggest sorrows with him and that he would be able to help. 'There really was no better feeling in the world than helping and comforting a friend' he thought smiling.

The rest of the evening he had spent with Tugger after his fan club had gone off for some sleep. Tugger was probably his best friend, the one who he was closest with anyway and he really loved the maned tom. But the new friendship with Cassandra was something else, something deeper emotionally. Tugger would stand up for him anytime, but they didn't talk about things that were tough. It was just a different kind of friendship. Misto valued it high in its own way.

"You are a brave little cat to spend a whole afternoon alone with Cassandra, even I would be too scared of Alonzo to do that" said Tugger cocking an eyebrow.

"Maybe he is smarter than you to see that it was only as friends" Misto bit back but had a hard time holding back a smile. He knew that it was probably not Alonzo but Cassandra's mysterious and serious ways that held Tugger back. He was probably much more afraid of Cassandra than Alonzo. She was beautiful in a different way than Bombalurina or Demeter. It had taken months for Alonzo to build up his courage to even ask her for a dance.

"Did you have fun in the friend zone then?" said Tugger teasing and pouting his lips.

"For your information I am not interested in her either, we really are just friends" he clarified. Remembering how he had said earlier that he wanted to stop laughing everything off all the time.

"Fair enough" said Tugger and surprisingly left it at that. "What did you do?" he asked curiously.

"We went to the museum together" said Misto with excitement but composed himself a little when he saw Tuggers look. He looked like he could think of nothing more boring in the world and Misto understood better why Cassandra felt like she did. He shook his head thinking that at least they had each other now. "You would probably have been bored to death, but we had a great time" he said smiling.

"I'm glad" said Tugger without teasing him more. "Want to go for a hunt?" he asked changing the subject.

"Sure" said Misto. They left the junkyard together and stayed out until it was time to go to sleep. But Misto kept thinking about the conversation. 'Maybe it wasn't the others that didn't understood, but him that hadn't taken himself serious enough? How could the others take him seriously if he didn't himself?' he thought.

* * *

Cassandra woke up as happy as she had been going to sleep last night. She put her paw on her belly and felt herself hoping they had succeeded on their first try. She thought that the trip to Egypt came perfectly. Bastet was the goddess of love and the ancient egypts had prayed and sacrificed to her for healthy babies and a safe pregnancy. She felt even stronger now that she had to go. Cassandra looked over at Alonzo and felt a small frown take shape between her eyebrows. She had to make him understand she had to go. She decided to just say it, after last night he must have understood that no matter how much time she spent away with another tom he was the one she would always come back to. Carefully she rocked his shoulder.

"Hello love" he said with a yawn and kissed her. Then he leaned down and kissed her belly. "For good luck" he said looking a bit embarrassed. She smiled.

"There is something I didn't tell you about yesterday" she said and saw Alonzo's face freeze. "Something good" she added and he relaxed. She didn't know where to start but remembered her decision to just get it out. "Misto thinks he is able to take me with him to Egypt to see the sphinx and the pyramids and to see where my ancestors lived and to see the temples where they prayed to the cat god Bastet" she blurted out. Alonzo looked confused.

"You are going to Egypt?" he asked. "But what if it's dangerous for the kittens? Or what's hopefully kittens" he corrected himself. He hadn't seemed to think anything more of the fact that she was going with Misto Cassandra noted relieved.

"If it's any danger at all Misto would never bring me" she assured him. "And Bastet is the goddess of love, the ancient egypts prayed to her when they hoped for babies and for them to be healthy" she added.

"They prayed to a cat god?" he asked surprised.

"Yes, cats were a really powerful symbol and they were thought to be very good and protective mothers" she said and noted in surprise that Alonzo looked intrigued instead of bored.

"They were right, and you will be the most loving and protective mother there is" he said beaming with pride over his mate. Cassandra smiled at him.

"Do you think it's a stupid idea to go?" she asked carefully, even though she would go no matter what he answered.

"I think it sounds like something you really want to do" he said and smiled. "And you should do it no matter what I think about it" he said and kissed her. "It's not stupid if it's important" he said looking her in the eyes.

"Thank you" said Cassandra.

They lay silently together for a long time. Alonzo had pulled her in close and held her tightly. They both had a lot to think about but in a good way. They had reached a new level in their relationship. Cassandra couldn't help but to think of the fact that Alonzo had not been bored or uninterested at all. 'Maybe it's not the others who aren't interested?' she thought. 'Maybe it's just that I don't think about making it relevant for them?'

Cassandra then remembered that she had promised Misto to start first thing in the morning, and there she was in bed still. She hurried up and out of the den. Her last thoughts had been overwhelming, she felt like she had been reborn. It was no journey to the Heaviside layer but she had definitely come back to a different Jellicle life. She wanted to talk to Misto and see if he had felt different as well. She saw him stretching out in the sun on top of an old oven in the main clearing.

"Misto, I am sorry I forgot to get up early, have you been waiting for long?" she asked and hurried over to him.

"Not at all" lied Misto who had been lying on top of the oven the last two hours keeping an eye towards Cassandra's and Alonzo's den. He had started to doubt that she would come at all. He thought that maybe Alonzo had not been as understanding as they had hoped.

"So much has happened, I can't believe it's only been a day" she said thinking out loud.

"Nothing bad I hope?" asked Misto carefully.

"Actually, everything has been far more than I could have wished for, I almost can't believe it's true" she said and shook her head smiling at the memories.

"Tell me" said Misto feeling her good mood transferring over to himself.

"Well, for one thing I made a new friend yesterday" she said smiling wider. Misto could almost feel the energy around her bubbling from joy, it felt a bit like his own magic. "And then Alonzo and I decided to try for kittens" she said blushing.

"Oh I am so happy for you!" said Misto and hugged her. He really was, but an unwelcome thought entered his mind telling him this probably meant there would be no trip to Egypt in the near future. He shook the feeling, embarrassed about such a selfish thought. "I really am" he assured her as he let go.

"About the trip to Egypt though, I promised Alonzo..-" she started and Misto zoned out. 'Here it came' he thought. "Misto?" she said frowning when she realised that he didn't listen anymore.

"Yes? Oh of course the trip can wait, Egypt will still be there" he said trying to sound as carefree as possible. He saw Cassandra's face turn sad.

"So you think it will be too dangerous then?" she asked and selfishly thought that she shouldn't have asked him, she could have told him when they were there. But she figured Alonzo would not be able to keep quiet among the others about their decision, and why should he? She couldn't really ask him to keep quiet so that Misto didn't know when she had told him she would not go if Misto said it was dangerous.

"Too dangerous?" said Misto confused, realising he must have missed something.

"I said I promised Alonzo that I wouldn't go if it would be dangerous, if I were to be pregnant this early on" she clarified.

"Oh.. oh I thought-" said Misto feeling stupid. "Never mind, there is no danger at all, but does that mean you still want to go?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course I want to!" she said excited. "Do you know how much of the gods and temples that were built to encourage fertility and safe childbirth? Most of the magic they practised evolved around keeping the families safe and healthy, oh and that reminds me!" she said feeling a bit like Misto when he got nervous. "We should do another visit to the museum and listen to Sarah, her tours focuses on the role of magic in ancient Egypt, you would love that!" she said happy that she had remembered to not only focus on the things she thought was interesting but also what Misto would enjoy.

"They used magic? Were there magic cats as well?" he said surprised.

"I don't know, let's go there and find out!" she said unsure if she meant the museum or Egypt or both. She was just so happy to see Misto's excitement.

"Okey, do you want to combine business with pleasure and see if I can conjure us both there?" he asked deciding that she probably had meant the museum.

"Haha yes, what a wonderful idea! But she isn't on until 2 in the afternoon so keep that thought and we'll practise here until then" she said laughing.

"I know the perfect place" said Misto and made his way towards the newer parts of the junkyard. Cassandra followed him quickly.

* * *

They practised together for several hours and Misto felt more and more confident about the long journey. Working with Cassandra gave him confidence and when he doubted himself she didn't just say that he would figure it out but she asked detailed questions about what it was that didn't work. He realised that when he tried to explain it to her he understood the difficulties better himself as well. They were interrupted by someone calling for Cassandra.

"Over here!" she called back and they saw Alonzo appear from behind a discarded refrigerator.

"There you are, hello Misto" he said politely, but Misto felt that the smile he got was actually genuine. He smiled back. "There are a few of us who are going with Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer to some market to try and snatch some lunch, do you want to come?" he asked. "You too of course Misto" he added when he saw that the smaller tom looked down.

"We have time for that before Sarah's tour right?" asked Cassandra looking over at Misto who nodded.

"Oh so it's Sarah today is it? I thought Justin was the only one now with his cannibal candy?" teased Alonzo and Misto blinked stupidly. He had definitely missed something here.

"Stop it!" said Cassandra punching Alonzo in the chest but she was smiling. "Alonzo thinks he's funny" she said to Misto as an explanation.

"I know I am funny" said Alonzo with a grin. Misto could almost touch the emotions sparkling between them and he found himself wishing that he would find someone to love like that. Alonzo took Cassandra's paw in his and turned to Misto. "Tugger will come as well" he said and Misto found himself smiling. He felt like their friendship had turned a new corner yesterday and he wanted to see if it had stayed on the same course through the night.

When they reached the clearing they saw that it was quite a lot of the cats who had decided to join them. Munkustrap would of course stay, you couldn't persuade him to leave his post with something as trivial as good food. It seemed Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks would stay as well keeping track of the kittens, even though Skimble looked longingly over at the others. Jellylorum supported a happy and confused looking Gus who scratched his fur absentmindedly. Bombalurina and Tugger stood with Demeter who managed to look both happy talking with Bomba and annoyed talking with Tugger. Tugger wiggled his eyebrows towards Misto and he rolled his eyes back. Mungojerrie called at them from the entrance, you could hear Rumpleteazer giggle from somewhere behind him.

"Why don't you go ahead, I want to talk to Misto for a bit" said Alonzo to Cassandra. She gave him a curious look but saw nothing hostile, so she nodded and left the frightened Misto with Alonzo. Because Misto was really frightened. He assumed he must have read the situation completely wrong earlier and now he was on his own against Alonzo.

"I wanted to thank you" started Alonzo and Misto felt his eyebrows travel north. "You are making Cassandra more happy than I have ever seen her" he continued and Misto suspected a trap of some kind.

"You are the one making her happy, I only-" he said but was cut off by Alonzo.

"I am not jealous, she has already clarified that you are just friends" he assured the other tom. "But she needed a friend more than I realised and I am happy that you found each other" he said with a smile and Misto relaxed a bit.

"She is a really good friend" he said smiling back. "Oh, but I forgot, congratulations, I heard you are trying for kittens!" said Misto remembering.

"Thank you" said Alonzo with a grin but then he turned serious. "About that, you wouldn't take Cassandra to Egypt if it wasn't safe right?" he asked with a worried look on his face.

"Absolutely not, it is perfectly safe" he assured Alonzo.

"Good...I can't say I am thrilled about it but it seems that it is important to her, and I can support that" he said but Misto could see there was an inner struggle.

"What is it that scares you?" he decided to ask hoping that he could still some of the worry.

"I just don't like having her that far away" said Alonzo looking a bit ashamed admitting it.

"If it's very hard for you I could bring you as well, it will take some extra time to make sure it works but I am certain I could do it" said Misto seriously.

"No, no, I would be bored in an hour and ruin everything, she would much rather go with you" he said. "It's just that I won't be able to protect her, but I know you won't let anything happen to her, I just have to get used to the thought" he said and sounded like he was trying to convince both Misto and himself.

"It's ok" said Misto. "We won't leave in few days still so there is time, just come to me if there is anything you wonder about" said Misto gently laying his paw on Alonzo's shoulder.

"Thanks, you really are a good friend Misto" he said. "Let's go eat some food" said Alonzo and they hurried after the others together. Misto felt himself becoming more and more important in the other Jellicles life when taking himself seriously. 'Maybe you could have a different Jellicle life without the Heaviside layer?' he thought with a smile.

* * *

Misto and Cassandra had made sure they left the others in time to go to the museum. They had to hurry though and didn't get to speak so much before they got there. As they entered Cassandra saw Sarah lead a group of people towards the second floor exhibit where the magic-themed display was. They hurried after her and since Cassandra knew most of the tour she spent some of the time watching Misto. She was pleased to see that he only took his eyes off Sarah to look closer at the artefacts she was showing. When the tour ended with an applause he turned towards Cassandra for the first time.

"That was amazing" he said in awe. "I.. I can't believe I didn't know about this before, it's just.. wow" he concluded.

"I am so glad you liked it" said Cassandra smiling wide. "What was your favourite part?" she asked curiously.

"Oh.. ehm.. Yes, it was the part when she said they believed that magic was a force that built up everything around them, that was held higher than the gods but could be practised by anyone, that it lives in every object and every action of the day, that is how I feel about my magic as well" he said with intensity and Cassandra thought for a second that he would kiss her. But then he shook his head and gave her a hug. "Thank you for showing me this" he said and smiled.

"Oh look Sarah, it's or little abyssinian with her boyfriend again, they like dog candy, wait, I'll get some!" called Justin from the other side of the counter of the tour guides desk. Both Misto and Cassandra looked at each other embarrassed before they laughed awkwardly. The timing could have been better.

"He seems to like you two" said Sarah but made no effort to pet them. Cassandra knew that she was the one that had fought for the longest time that they should continue to chase her out. It was nothing personal, but Sarah was allergic and couldn't touch them. "Stay as long as you like, I won't pet you, but I have taken my medication today so I won't be ill" she said and felt a bit silly explaining it to the cats.

"You stayed! Sarah I think they understand me" said Justin in triumph as he sat down and held out two pieces of dog candy for them. They accepted politely.

They had stayed for a little bit longer getting pets and another round of candy from Justin who tried different ways of testing if they understood him until his boss had pointed out that he was at work and was expected to actually do stuff. Instead of Misto using his magic to conjure them back to the junkyard they had decided to walk. They weren't hungry so they didn't need to make time for hunting and both had a lot to think about.

"I forgot to ask you if the talk with Alonzo went well?" Cassandra asked carefully. It had looked like they got along well but she liked to make sure.

"Actually it was a great talk" said Misto smiling wide. "I told him to come ask me if there was anything he was worried about, but he seemed to understand I would not let anything happen to you while we're gone" he said and felt proud about the trust Alonzo had in him.

"You are a really good friend Misto" she said and saw Misto beam at the praise. "You spent a lot of time with Tugger when we were out eating earlier, it seemed like he wasn't flirting around as usual, is everything okey between you two?" Cassandra continued. She had realised that Misto had spent most of the time with the maned tom and that he hadn't had much attention left for the others. They had talked silently together while the others had bolted around the whole market trying to snatch something better than the others had already managed. She hoped Tugger wasn't jealous of their new friendship, she knew it took up a lot of the time they usually spent together.

"Oh yes everything is okey!" said Misto quickly but felt himself blush for a second. "Actually, it's different" he said looking thoughtful. "Since last night it has felt like something changed, it was like something clicked when you and I talked about how hard it was to deal with the others not understanding and I kind of realised that maybe it was me who hadn't given them the chance to really take me seriously- does this sound weird?" he interrupted himself. He had stopped and looked anxiously at Cassandra. She started laughing before she could stop herself.

"I actually understand exactly what you mean" she said when she had composed herself again and could see Misto let out a sigh in relief. "Something changed after we talked" she started and was a bit unsure of how to put it. "I realised the same thing but in a different way, it wasn't that the others wasn't interested in what I liked, it was that I always talked about it from my point of view without contemplating the thought that they might be interested if it instead applied to their lives as well" she said and felt the thought become clearer as she spoke it out loud.

"I felt so selfish not having believed that the others would take me seriously if I only gave them the chance" said Misto shaking his head in disbelief.

"Me too!" said Cassandra and laughed while she felt her cheeks get warm in embarrassment.

"You think you are smart and then you let someone in and realise that so much of what you need comes from other people and that trying to always do things yourself only limits your own potential" said Misto and wasn't sure he had understood what he meant until he said it out loud.

"Hey! That was beautifully put" she said and felt like he had put words on her own thoughts. "If this magic thing doesn't work out for you, you'll make a great writer" she said with a wink and they laughed together.

They came back to the junkyard still smiling but quiet. They hadn't done much magic practise today but still they both felt like they had accomplished a lot.

"See you tomorrow" said Cassandra before she headed back towards her and Alonzo's den.

* * *

The next couple of days they practised transport with the help of magic and Misto also insisted on practising a few tricks that could come in handy when they were in Egypt. He specifically practised a translation spell that would help them read old hieroglyphs. Cassandra had been the one who thought of learning a trick for conjuring water since she knew it was very hot in Egypt even though they would hopefully be able to spend a lot of time underground examining the chambers of the graves. After an unusually well performed stunt that had made Misto feel like Cassandra was almost like an extended body part of his own he lay down on the ground smiling. Cassandra lay down next to him. It was late and they looked up at the stars together. It would be long before the Jellicle moon rose again but knowing that the same stars and the same moon would watch over them on their trip gave them both comfort.

"Let's leave tomorrow" said Misto and turned his smile towards Cassandra.

"Are you sure? Don't rush it if you don't feel ready" she assured him but couldn't help that the hope practically sparkled in her moonlit eyes.

"I am sure" said Misto with a little laughter shaking his head.

"What?" asked Cassandra who hadn't recognized what was funny.

"It's just that I can never read your expression, your eyes never give anything away but the way they sparkle right now I could see it even with my eyes closed" he said and stroke his paw along her cheek. For a millisecond he could feel the reflex of kissing her travel up his spine before he cupped her chin and playfully tugged at it. "It suits you" he said with a smile and raised up to sit next to her instead. She raised up and sat next to him.

"Do you know that your fur glitters when you focus really intensely?" she asked him. She had felt his reflex as well but decided that those things mean nothing if you don't act on them.

"It does?" said Misto looking at her surprised.

"Haha yeah!" she said. "Maybe we can learn if the Egypts have some kind of enhancing magic for that, it suits you" Cassandra said with a wink, showing that she had heard and appreciated the compliment earlier.

"Haha I can't walk around all sparkly, the others would laugh!" said Misto trying to sound hurt but he was smiling.

"You mean like they do when you perform at the Jellicle ball?" she said sarcastically.

"I sparkle then as well?" said Misto blushing. He blew sparkles around him and lighted up the junkyard but he hadn't realised that he himself sparkled during his performance.

"Like a disco ball" teased Cassandra and slung her arm over his shoulders. "It looks great on you, but I only thought it happened during the Jellicle moon" she explained.

" _I_ only thought I made glitter appear when I wanted to, I guess I get carried away performing sometimes" he said shaking his head again. "Well, as long as it suits me" he laughed and stood up, holding out his paw for Cassandra to grab.

"Yeah, and Tugger loves it" she said and reached out for the hand, which Misto withdrew in shock. Cassandra fell hard back to the ground.

"Oh I'm so sorry, are you okey?" Misto cried and ended up lifting her up of the ground before he awkwardly put her down again.

"I'm fine" said Cassandra laughing. She hadn't been hurt at all, just surprised, and she was apparently not the only one. "You know he likes you right?" asked Cassandra lifting an eyebrow curiously.

"Well we are good friends.." said Misto but he thought he had heard something else in her voice.

"He would want more if you just let him" tried Cassandra. She was a bit confused that the tuxedo tom had been that oblivious.

"We are just friends" said Misto assuring both himself and her.

"Okey" said Cassandra sensing that it was not the time to push it. "So when do you want to leave tomorrow?" she asked instead and Misto looked happy to change the subject.

"Not too late since there's a time difference, we need to find shelter for the first night in daylight I think, no matter how well we can see in the dark, 3 pm?" he asked trying to focus on practical things, but his mind was whirling around the things she had said before.

"That's perfect, gives us the time to say goodbye to the others as well" she said. "Good night Misto, I'll see you tomorrow" she said and gave him a hug before she turned back towards her den.

Misto was dead tired but he couldn't make out what he had heard. 'Did Tugger like him more than as a friend?' he thought. It didn't seem likely since he never flirted with him and he _always_ flirted with the others. But they did have a special connection, Tugger even sang him his song during the ball. And lately they had been closer even though they spent less time together it felt like the time they did spend were more intense. Tugger had kept teasing him like always but if Misto went serious he followed and they could talk more like...equals. 'Yeah, that's the difference' thought Misto. He no longer felt like they were friends on Tugger's terms, it was on both of them now.

Misto smiled at the thought but decided that if there was any truth in what Cassandra suspected then it could wait until they came back. He wasn't so sure it was more than just a special friendship and if it were, he wasn't so sure what he felt about it. 'And since Tugger hadn't made any obvious moves on him he couldn't be in that much of a hurry to find out either' he reasoned and went home to his den.

To be continued..


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so much for the lovely response! I'm sorry the next chapter took a bit longer than I expected it to but my phone broke and I write all my fics on it, but now it's working well enough. The original chapter was a bit longer but i broke it up a bit so the next one will be posted in the next couple of days, I just need to edit it a bit more.**

 **Thank you so much for the reviews, I've held up my promise and sent some fun facts about Egypt, but don't think I'm out, I got loads of it! Haha, and I've actually decided to expand this story a bit. I was aiming for a three chapter story, but now it seems to end up somewhere around 7 or 8 chapters and maybe an epilogue, but I'm not a big fan of those, I like stories that ends with loose ends, what do you guys think?**

 **I don't own Cats and I have simplified some of the facts about Egypt.**

 **As before, every review gets a fun fact about ancient Egypt! :D**

The next morning Cassandra woke up earlier than usual. She had seen the same behaviour in her human family whenever they were leaving for a vacation and even though she didn't need to pack any luggage she could still not shake the feeling that it was something that she had forgotten. She didn't want to wake up Alonzo that early and managed to ease herself loose from his hold before she left the den. Maybe she could find some breakfast for them both. It was usually something Alonzo did, they both knew she could do it just as well but ever since they had moved in together it had been Alonzo who did it. Cassandra had been very reluctant in the beginning reminding him that she had managed perfectly fine before they met, thank you very much, but she had then come to realise that one of the main reasons Alonzo never felt like he was good enough for her was that he was never allowed to take care of her. She swallowed her pride and found that it was actually nice to be taken care of from time to time even though you weren't in need of it.

When Cassandra entered the main clearing of the junkyard she was surprised to see Tugger lie alone on top of the oven. It was his favourite spot but he was rarely seen there alone, he always had some part of his fan club close at hand and the sight this morning was quite rare. Cassandra let out a chuckle and saw Tugger's ears perk up and he turned towards her.

"Hey Cassie, you're up early, trouble in paradise?" he said with a smirk and she rolled her eyes.

"Everything's fine Tugger, I am just a little nervous about today" she said and jumped up gracely to sit next to him.

"Because today's the day you'll let go of that mysterious facade and goes home with The Rum Tum Tugger? There's nothing to be nervous about, I'll take care of you" Tugger said with his voice dripping with seduction.

"Would you turn that off?" she said punching his shoulder and trying not to laugh. "You'll come on to anything that stands still long enough don't you?" she said and he smiled goofily back at her. "No I am nervous because we're going to Egypt today" she said.

"You are going to Egypt today?" said Tugger looking at her confused and Cassandra realised what it was that she had forgotten. Or more accurately, what they had both forgotten, she and Misto hadn't told anyone they were going. Well Cassandra had told Alonzo but for the others they had just spent a lot of time together and found a common interest. She tried hard to think back but couldn't remember a single occasion that the subject had come up with anyone else. 'But surely Alonzo must have spoken to someone?' she thought. But he had mostly been talking about how they were trying for kittens and only spoken about Egypt with her or Misto. Cassandra suddenly felt uncomfortable being the one who broke the news to Tugger.

"Ehm, yes, we have been practising magic and are going to Egypt to find out more about-" she started but got cut off.

"Yeah yeah, I don't need the whole lecture" said Tugger and Cassandra frowned at his interruption. "Why haven't Misto told me?" he asked and Cassandra let the frown drop when she saw how miserable the other tom looked.

"We both forgot" said Cassandra but felt like it wasn't much of an explanation. But the statement seemed to bring back Tugger and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I mean, you can both go wherever you want to, I don't care" he said trying to sound cocky, but Cassandra saw his lips pout a little.

"He should have told you, I should have told someone else than just Alonzo, it's been a bit intense" she said and tried to read the reactions of Tugger.

"Well, it seems your friendship is a bit intense" said Tugger casually but she could hear a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"He still talks about you all the time Tugger, you're his best friend" she said and Tugger looked up at her curiously. "I mean..you should talk to him, what we have does not exclude you" she said and earned a raised eyebrow from Tugger. "Not an innuendo" she added and rolled her eyes.

"A tom can dream can't he?" said Tugger smirking. "And I usually get what I want" he added and Cassandra started laughing.

"We'll see" she said shaking her head. "Are you hungry? I was going for breakfast if you want to come along?" she asked changing the subject.

"Sure" said Tugger and they headed off.

They didn't have to go too far before their noses were set on a mouse and they started searching. They both pounced at it the same time but Tugger had the better grip.

"You take it either way" said Tugger acting like the gentleman he wasn't and handed her the mouse. Cassandra decided to accept it now that Tugger actually behaved, making sure she didn't tell him that. "Do you want to tag along when I find something for me?" he asked.

"Yeah I need to find something for Alonzo as well" said Cassandra and Tugger looked at her amused.

"Isn't that his job now that you are _trying for kittens_? I swear to the Everlasting Cat, if he brings that up again out of the blue.." he said sarcastically but stopped himself at Cassandra's raised eyebrow. "Yeah yeah, congratulations and everything" he said but smiled.

"Thank you" said Cassandra. "I guess I should be the one who can't stop talking about it all the time, but..you know" she said trailing off. Tugger did not know.

"Don't you want kittens?" he asked instead.

"No, no, it's not that! It's just that, when it happens it happens, I still wish for it, but until then I can focus on other things, right?" she asked but felt like Tugger was the one in the tribe that probably understood her best. She couldn't see him plan kittens but she was sure he would step up to the task if it happened.

"You're absolutely right" said Tugger but he shook his head and smiled.

"What?" demanded Cassandra.

"Haha, I just can't believe Alonzo lets you go to Egypt, even I would have wanted my queen at home at a moment like this" he said chuckling.

"You're not the only one who can wrap a tom around your finger" said Cassandra with a wink before she set out after another mouse. Tugger looked after her intrigued. He could never have Cassandra, and he knew what that meant. 'Damn it, I want her' he thought and groaned at himself.

When Tugger caught up with Cassandra she sat with a mouse in her mouth. She had seen the look on Tugger's face and knew what it meant. She got that look from Tugger every other week when he got reminded that he couldn't have her. It usually drove Alonzo crazy and he had sworn to tear the mane out with its roots the day Tugger tried to go after her. Cassandra usually just glared at Alonzo until he let the subject go. She would never go after Tugger and they both knew it, Tugger did as well unfortunately, because that was the reason he had to try. Cassandra was glad the mouse stopped her from laughing out loud when Tugger tried to look casual walking over towards her. She had already killed the mouse and let it slide down and hang from its tail, holding it with her teeth. She couldn't help but tease him when he was this vulnerable.

"This one's yours, come and get it" she said still holding the mouse dangling in its tail. Tugger formed his lips into a victorious smirk and came closer. Just as he was about to grab the mouse with his teeth she dropped it to the ground. Tugger acted on reflex and put his head down trying to catch it. Cassandra took advantage of the position and put her paw on his neck, pushing him down against the ground.

"What the-" Tugger cried as his face pushed down against the mouse now laying on the ground. Cassandra leaned down and whispered into his ear.

"Let's not do this again in two weeks" she said sarcastically. "You'll never get me...and don't let Misto see you trying again" she said with a grin and let go of him. She was already gone hunting for another mouse for her mate when Tugger brushed himself and his bruised ego off and raised up. He hated being so predictable and-. Then it dawned on him what she had said. He had just assumed that she would say Alonzo's name that he hadn't registered the other tom's name until now. 'not let Misto see him trying' he thought and found himself standing with an open mouth confused.

Tugger had composed himself, picked up the mouse and made his way slowly back towards the junkyard. He had been thinking about what Cassandra had said and tried to deny it. He never flirted with Misto, they were friends, and he _always_ flirted with everyone else. 'Everyone standing still long enough' as Cassandra had put it. Misto didn't flirt with anyone at all 'But could he have said something to Cassandra?' thought Tugger. No matter how he tossed and turned the thoughts around his head he couldn't deny that there was a reason he didn't flirt with Misto. He valued their friendship too much and it would never be worth it if they lost that. 'Unless they lost it for something more' he thought. Tugger just hoped that it hadn't been as obvious to everyone as it seemed to have been to Cassandra. He didn't want Cassandra, he wanted Misto. Misto who was going to travel to Egypt today. Tugger groaned.

* * *

Cassandra headed back to her den when she had found the last mouse. It wasn't a big one and Alonzo wouldn't be full but she felt like it was the gesture that counted.

"There you are" said Alonzo when she entered their den. He stretched in a very feline way. Like a cat trying to exaggerate how a cat stretched, and it always made her stop and stare. She pounced on him with the mouse hanging from her mouth.

"I brought you breakfast" she said and purred. Alonzo stopped his stretch. "You can keep doing that for a while if you want to, the view from here is great" she said and leaned on her elbow taking in the sight. Alonzo's eyes widened and he kissed her fiercely.

"You" he panted when he had to come up for air. "have no idea what you do to me" he said with eyes glowing.

"About the same as you do to me?" she asked and stuck out her tongue. "Now eat your breakfast" she said nodding towards the forgotten mouse.

"You should have it" said Alonzo looking concerned. "I should have been up and hunted for you" he said and looked away guiltily.

"I have already eaten, I went hunting with Tugger" she said and held out the mouse for him to grab.

"With Tugger?" said Alonzo in surprise and with an undertone of jealousy.

"Yeah yeah, he was up and you weren't, who did I come back to with breakfast and to lie in bed and cuddle with?" she asked making sure he knew she had heard the jealousy and didn't appreciate it.

"Well he is a fool to not care for a cuddle because this.." he said and reached out to pull her down on top of him. "Is just fantastic" he finished and Cassandra smiled. They lay in bed for quite some time before Cassandra remembered that she hadn't told him that they had decided to leave today.

"It will be fine" she assured him after she told him. "I understand that you will worry but Misto and I can take care of ourselves and this is important" she reminded him.

"I am really glad you are going" Alonzo said and hoped that she heard his sincerity. He really was, but it also felt tough to let her go that far away without him, he had a hard time fighting his protective instincts. That was one of the things that made him perfect for helping to protect the Jellicles, but he could only protect the ones that he was with. "I'm just silly, you shouldn't think about me once while you are gone" he said with a smile.

"I'll think of you every day" she said and smiled back. "And I will try to bring home a protective amulet for our future family" she said and looked him into the eyes with a serious expression. He kissed her again.

"Do you want to try our luck again?" he said wiggling his eyebrows and Cassandra started laughing.

"It can't hurt" she answered.

* * *

Misto had woken up late with a jerk remembering all too well what they had both forgotten. They hadn't told anyone they were leaving! He hadn't even mentioned it to Tugger. He groaned. This was probably not good. 'Maybe Cassandra had told the others?' thought Misto but found it strange that if they in fact knew hadn't said anything about it. They didn't know, that was the only logical reason. He felt most embarrassed about not telling Tugger. They had barely seen each other and he had thought that their friendship was better than ever, it wasn't too smart to withhold something like this then. Misto just hoped that it didn't lie any truth in what Cassandra had asked him about last night. He wasn't prepared to lose Tugger as a friend and if Tugger hoped for something more Misto was certain he had blown that now. 'That would be even worse' he thought and surprised himself. He knew he didn't want to lose Tugger as a friend, but he found himself okey with it if their friendship was replaced by something else. 'Oh well, let's hope that's not the case because then I'm probably in big trouble' Misto thought with a sigh and made his way out of his den.

He didn't see Cassandra but was alarmed at the sight of a quickly approaching Tugger. Tugger had jumped at the sight of Misto but calmed himself down as he neared him. The last bit he strode gracefully up to the tuxedo tom and put his arm around him with a smile. For all he knew Misto could have said something to Cassandra or she had just read him better than he hoped. Either way he was not going to just stand around and watch. When The Rum Tum Tugger wanted something, he claimed it.

"Too bad you are going to Egypt today, I had planned on taking you out on a date" said Tugger with a grin and made Misto choke on the air he had gasped for in surprise. 'Well, the mystery about if Tugger would forgive him for not telling was solved' thought Misto. And as well was the mystery of whether Tugger wanted anything else than just friendship. Misto realised that if Tugger turned his charm on for him, he would be an easy prey, and that was not something Tugger usually appreciated.

"Hold that thought" said Misto and used his magic to travel to the far end of the clearing they were in. Tugger looked at the thin air beneath his arm for a second before he looked around and found Misto on the other side looking mischievous. He grinned and took a mock bow. Misto let out a sigh of relief and went over towards Cassandra's den. It was already 1 pm and he hadn't seen her, he felt the worry that she had changed her mind breach the surface before pushing it down again. She wouldn't let anything get in the way of this.

Cassandra heard an eager knock on the door to their den and took a long leap from the bed to open. She saw Misto with an expression of both worry and excitement.

"Oh, good you're up, it's almost time but do you know what we have forgotten- oh hey Alonzo" said Misto and couldn't really take his eyes of the stretching tom getting up from the bed. 'Thank the Everlasting Cat that he doesn't do that in public' thought Misto and felt his cheeks get slightly warmer.

"We forgot to tell the others" said Cassandra and moved over to block the view for Misto. She had registered the barely noticable change of colour on his cheeks and for the first time in her and Alonzo's relationship she got a dose of jealousy. It quickly washed away though and she changed focus.

"But you told Tugger?" said Misto confused.

"It slipped out this morning when we went hunting" said Cassandra feeling awkward discussing this in front of Alonzo, she wasn't sure how Misto had taken her questions yesterday and everyone who heard them now would have caught the change of tone in Misto's voice. He clearly cared even though he had admitted to nothing yesterday.

"You and Tugger hunt together?" he said and Cassandra could almost feel Alonzo's ears perk up when Misto's voice just barely heightened at the end of the sentence.

"Just this once, but don't worry, Alonzo isn't the jealous type" she said rolling her eyes and turning to blink towards her mate. Misto seemed to understand that she tried to distract Alonzo and realised that he had been acting like he cared who Tugger went hunting with. Which he said yesterday that he didn't. 'Oops' he thought.

"Haha" he tried to laugh and leaned around Cassandra to send Alonzo a blink as well. The other tom snorted to them both.

"Go on then, tell the others" Alonzo said. "But come say goodbye before you leave, ok?" he took Cassandra's paw and lifted up to give it a kiss before he pushed them out the door.

They went around the junkyard telling everyone of the Jellicles about them going away for a while. They tried to make it sound like something they had just decided and not like something they had worked on for several days without letting anybody know. Munkustrap insisted on them leaving from the clearing with everybody there to say goodbye to them. Everyone had gathered in the clearing and Alonzo had given Cassandra several 'just one more'-kisses. Misto had made his best not to avoid but still don't talk to Tugger but sent him a few ambiguous smiles varying with the degree of certainty he had in his own feelings at the different times. He felt less certain now about the reason Tugger had asked him about the date, it could be something he just said to throw Misto off. The time was a quarter past three when Misto interrupted Jennyanydots' third round of advices that she thought could come in handy and he and Cassandra moved a few steps away from the others.

"Are you ready to leave?" Misto asked her.

"Absolutely, just ignore the others and do your thing, I will help you" she said and squeezed his paw in hers. Misto went through the procedure in his head before he started it. In the same way as he built up his magic during the Jellicle ball he started to charge light between his paws before shooting it out around them making the junkyard light up even if it was still daylight. He conjured out a big sheet and levitated it up over them. Cassandra could see the others look at them with their mouths open. She did her best to help Misto and then suddenly Misto put his paws together in front of his mouth and blew out a big cloud of glitter in front of them, at the same time the sheet dropped over them and Cassandra could feel herself swirling away. It felt like her heart had skipped a beat and when it started pounding again she landed on a dusty surface feeling the heat around her hitting her in the face. She quickly reached out to the side where she had Misto when they left and panicked for a second when she couldn't find him.

"Cassandra?" she heard a voice from the other side and turned around pulling the sheet off from her head.

"Misto!" she called out in relief as she saw the tuxedo tom stand in the sand next to her.

"Are you okey? Did everything feel okey? Did you land okey? Are you-" Misto interrupted himself when he saw Cassandra start to laugh.

"Haha yes Misto everything is _okey_ " she said and Misto laughed with her. He realised how tensed he must have been and it felt wonderful to laugh it off.

"Want to take a look around?" he said after catching his breath. Cassandra could do nothing but nod, she was speechless. They were actually standing in Egypt.

Cassandra stopped after just one step. It didn't look like she had expected it to. She looked confused over at two women carrying goods in weaved baskets on their heads and then over towards a group of men using rope and a sleighlike invention to drag along huge blocks of stone to some kind of monument they were building. They were all dressed in the absolute basics of clothes looking more like sheets draped around their waists than actual clothing. She had expected the Egyptians to live differently than the people of London but all she had seen and heard about Egypt it wasn't a country this far behind in industrial evolution. Cassandra felt like she must have gravely misjudged how big the difference in living standard must be among the people of Egypt. Her eyes widened as she saw a man in a more formal looking attire slash his whip across the back of one of the men dragging the block of stone. She couldn't believe her eyes 'How could you treat people like that today?' she thought. Cassandra looked at Misto in horror.

"It's..very different from what I thought" she managed to say.

"Cassandra...there is one thing I didn't tell you" said Misto looking quite taken by the sight as well. "Well.." he started and pointed over towards the monument she had seen. "You wanted to be there when the pharaoh commissioned the sphinx" he said and Cassandra looked where he pointed. Her eyes almost left their sockets when she saw what it was. It was the lion body of the sphinx and the men dragging the block of stone along would start on building up the neck of it.

"You...took us back in time?" she stuttered and turned her face to stare at Misto.

"That's why we had to practise so much, otherwise we could've gone straight away" said Misto. "I thought it would be the perfect surprise but...but I had no idea it would be like this.." he apologised. Misto had thought that Egypt would be fun and exciting but seeing how some of the humans were treated made him feel sick.

"We need to get out of here" said Cassandra suddenly as she registered another group of men dragging a block of stone directly towards them.

"Shall I take us home?" asked Misto feeling stupid that his surprise had turned into a nightmare.

"Not yet" said Cassandra and they both took a great leap out of the way from the approaching humans. They focused on staying together and Cassandra took the lead in finding some kind of shelter where they could talk. The two women that carried baskets stopped and one of them pointed towards the Jellicles. Cassandra froze for a moment and Misto ran right into her. The two women had put down their baskets and quickly made their way over to them, Cassandra could see them pointing at Misto and speaking with excitement.

"Hurry Misto!" she called and they bolted through legs into some kind of market and even more people started to point and a few tried to catch them. They narrowly escaped and in panic they hid under a discarded weaved basket laying on a bystreet. They were panting and looked out through the weave to see the humans go back to their daily life again.

"What happened?" Misto whispered and Cassandra could hear how scared he was.

"Remember how you said all cats in the museum looked like me?" she said and Misto nodded. "Well, you don't, and at this point in time there aren't any other breeds of cat here" she explained. Misto still looked confused. "And right now we are in a country at a time when humans have a cat god" she tried.

"They think I am Bastet? But I'm a male cat" said Misto feeling silly for stating the obvious.

"At least they see that you are rare, there isn't another cat here like you and that seemed to have been noticed" said Cassandra dryly but she was concerned, this could be really dangerous if someone captured Misto.

"Do you think it would be enough if I changed my appearance to look more like you?" asked Misto and saw Cassandra's jaw dropped again.

"You can do that?" she asked amazed. Misto smiled and gave her a cheeky look.

"Is this better?" he asked. Cassandra had to close her mouth since her jaw couldn't drop more. In front of her stood an abyssinian cat that could've been her twin brother if she'd had one. But the voice was unmistakably Misto's. She started to laugh.

"Haha yes that perfect" she laughed. "You still sparkle a bit though" she said with a wink and brushed some glitter off the shoulder of her fake twin.

"Damn it!" said Misto and spun around trying to brush the last glitter off his back.

"No more secrets though" said Cassandra and laughed but Misto got serious.

"Oh Cassandra I am so sorry, I should have said something from the beginning, you could have told me how it would be" he said and looked miserable.

"It's ok Misto" she said and pulled him in for a hug. He still smelled exactly like Misto. "I can't believe you did this for me" she said and smiled into his neck fur. He pulled his head back and looked at her.

"You aren't mad at me?" he said with a concerned frown.

"Of course not" she said. It felt so weird to look at a male version of herself. Misto had copied everything from her shades of brown in the fur to her moonlit eyes. "Okey, so it is not what we expected, but we are here now and we can't just go back without having seen some of it, right?" she asked and smiled.

"I suppose you have a point" said Misto and smiled back weakly. He had imagined a country that was rich and developed, a country where everyone more or less lived like the pharaohs they had heard and read about at the museum. He had no idea that the common people was treated so terribly.

"Let's go out for a bit, maybe we can see some of it before the sun goes down and then come back here and sleep?" she suggested and Misto nodded. He could appreciate that the immediate danger was over and they had found a shelter for the night but there was still some worry left. Cassandra looked so determined though that he followed, if anything happened he just had to step up and fulfill his promise to Alonzo and protect her.

* * *

They went back the same way and this time the humans didn't really pay that much attention to them. Some reached down and petted them briefly but they blended in better now. The humans struggled hard to survive in the city and both Misto and Cassandra were quiet as they made their way through the crowd. It was hard to see the people live like this when all they had ever heard of was how the pharaohs lived in luxury. They were starting to realise that what they saw was the people paying the price for that. Cassandra tried to keep her spirits up. 'They were in Egypt, they would see the sphinx get built and they were going to do the best of this' she thought and looked over at Misto. He had the same worried frown she had wore herself before she turned and smiled at him, he quickly forced a smile back at her. 'Misto did this for me, I can't just say I want to go home immediately' she thought and pushed on through the crowd. Cassandra was determined to see the sun set behind the unfinished sphinx. That had to be a magical sight no matter the surroundings.

Misto tried his best to keep the mask on and smiled whenever Cassandra looked over at him. It was hard though. This was nothing like he had expected it to be. 'How can the pharaohs live like gods when the people starve?' he thought. This was for Cassandra, she wanted to stay, so they would stay. They got closer to the stone body of the sphinx and found a platform to sit upon. The sun was starting to lower and the workers collected their tools. The whips came down hard on their backs and both cats winced everytime they heard the sound of them hitting flesh. It gave them chills down the spine.

"I thought we could watch the sunset from here" said Cassandra and tried her best to ignore the nausea she felt at the scene beneath them. Misto just nodded. Cassandra started to realise why Misto had a hard time reading her, the moonlit eyes he had copied from her gave nothing away but she thought his posture looked tensed. Cassandra heard a whip come down on flesh and as she winced she saw Misto do the same. They heard it again and winced. They heard it again and Cassandra had to close her eyes. She couldn't help herself and felt a tear fall down her cheek. She didn't want to wipe it off so that Misto saw it but instead she felt his paw stroke it away before he wrapped her into a hug. Cassandra could feel her shoulder get damp from Misto's tears and they both sat and cried silently until the sun had set fully. Cassandra loosened herself from Misto's grip.

"I'm sorry" she said being a little confused about which part of it.

"I had no idea this was how the sphinx and the pyramids were built" said Misto.

"I knew" said Cassandra and Misto looked at her surprised. "Janet is another guide at the museum, her tour is focused on everyday life of the egyptians, but I wasn't prepared" she said and felt her throat swelling up again. Misto stroke his paw up and down her back in comfort. Cassandra collected herself. "It is very different to hear about slaves dying building these monuments and actually see it" she said.

"Cassandra, we need to find shelter for the night, but if you'd rather just go home it's okey, just say so, I won't be disappointed, this was nothing like I had imagined either" said Misto giving her paw a squeeze in his.

"Let's have tomorrow as well?" she asked and Misto nodded. "I don't know if it will be any better, but I think we should give it a chance" she said.

"Then we do that, I would love to talk a little with the other cats here as well" said Misto and smiled. Together they could turn this into something good, or at least into something valuable.

They found their way back into the alley and crawled into the basket again. They had to curl up close to each other as the night got colder and colder. It wasn't colder than home but the contrast from the day made it feel worse.

 **To be continued.**


	4. Chapter 4

**This is a short one, but it was originally a part of the last chapter that got too long. The next chapter might have to wait for a while so I wanted to get this out. I am superglad you guys keep reading this!**

 **I dont own Cats and in this chapter I have exaggerated a lot about the inside structure of the pyramids, they were actually quite uncomplicated but the inspiration comes from the different temples where later pharaohs were buried, the egyptians got tired of people plundering the graves and hid them better and with several traps for thieves. But new finds suggest that there are still hidden chambers in the three big pyramids, so the lst thing is not said in this matter..**

 **Extra bonus points to the one finding the Howard Carter reference! Fun facts for everyone reviewing, yay!**

When the sun rose in the morning they had slept decently but both felt stiff and took their time stretching out.

"Okey, so we are prepared for what we will see today" said Cassandra sounding determined. "We can't change the history, but we can understand it better" she said and Misto smiled. He had thought the same thing before he fell asleep last night.

"Yeah, let's learn something new" he said and they went outside together. Misto felt the wonderful smell of fresh fish and was just about ask Cassandra if they should try and get some for breakfast when he heard her throw up and he turned towards her worried. "Are you okey!?" he asked as he lend her a paw to help her stand up straight again.

"I'm fine" she said but looked a bit pale. "It was just that horrible smell, I wasn't prepared" she said and shook her head.

"And here I thought we were prepared for something worse than a bad smell in the air" said Misto trying to joke. Cassandra laughed.

"Haha yeah, well I feel better already, but no fish for breakfast okey?" she said and smiled.

"It was the fish?" said Misto surprised. "Never mind, let's find something else to eat" he said changing the subject. He was hungry and if Cassandra didn't want fish he wouldn't waste his time on that.

They went back to the market place from yesterday and quickly realised that it was from there the smell of fish came from. Cassandra gagged but didn't throw up again. Misto looked longingly over at the stand with fish before he sighed and they left. It didn't take long until their noses told them a rat was close by. They hunted it down and it was big enough to feed them both. When they sat and ate the rat several humans came up to them and petted them, one woman came out with some water for them and then another one hurried out with a saucer with milk instead. Cassandra and Misto happily accepted and when the second woman saw that they preferred the milk she made a comment to the other one who turned and left. They finished the bowl of milk and thanked the woman by nuzzling her leg before they moved on.

"They _really_ like cats here" said Misto to Cassandra.

"It was because we took care of the rat, that is one of the reasons they treat the cats so well, by taking care of rodents we keep sickness from spreading and protect the food they have stored up" said Cassandra almost quoting a sign from the museum at home.

"Look at that, I am already learning" said Misto with a wink and they both laughed.

It was time to move towards the pyramids and the sphinx. They both prepared themselves for what they were about to see and it didn't take long until the lines of slaves dragging blocks of stone came upon them. They braced themselves and pushed forward. It was easier today when they knew what would come but it was still hard to see the people of Egypt pay the prize for the luxury of their leaders. More than once Cassandra thought about the amount of gold that had been found in Tutankhamun's chamber, a tenth of it would probably change the lives of everyone living in the city. The hope of getting to meet Chefren, which would probably be the pharaoh at this time, turned into disgust. The proud line Cassandra sang at the Jellicle ball would be filled with something else from now on. Instead of respect for the pharaohs she would think of the sacrifices made by the people that didn't make the history books.

Cassandra took them to the largest of the pyramids, the Cheops pyramid and they circled it for a while before finding an entrance. Cassandra knew that the real entrance would be hidden and that some of these entrances were especially made for thieves, they were narrow and designed to make the person who entered lose his way and never get out again. There would also be several pits in unsuspected places for the thieves to fall into if they entered. She hesitated a bit before entering. To enter the pyramid after the pharaoh had been buried was not allowed and you would be punished by the gods even if you avoided getting caught. But they were cats and couldn't be expected to know that. But there was also a second reason she hesitated. If they found the way to the hidden chamber they would see gold, carvings, amulets, magic, but they would also see sacrifices the humans had made to the gods and those sacrifices would be both humans and animals, and there would probably be several mummified cats in there. A chill went down her spine and she turned to Misto.

"If we enter we might see things that are worse than the ones we leave on the outside, do you still want to go?" she asked. She was not prepared to go down there alone but she didn't want Misto to come unless he knew what it meant.

"I think it will help us understand" said Misto. He had seen Cassandra's hesitation and even though her eyes didn't give anything away he could read her body language well enough. This was something that frightened her, but she was still ready to go through with it. It must be an important piece for both of them.

"It will be really hard to find the way, we might enter and not find anything at all, but I want you to leave traces of glitter to make sure we don't get lost" she started and Misto took mental notes. "It will soon be dark enough that not even our Jellicle eyes can find our way, can you conjure light for us then?" she asked and Misto nodded. She paused and wondered how she would continue.

"I know the pharaoh demanded sacrifices and I know some of them were cats" said Misto suspecting what it was that troubled her. It was Cassandra's turn to nod. "If we can't find anything it will still not be in vain" he said and they both smiled. They had only dreamt of seeing the beautiful and remarkable things before they went but now they both felt the importance of seeing all things, not just the valuable historic artefacts.

Misto and Cassandra entered the Cheops pyramid in silence. Misto had to conjure light only a couple of hundred of meters in, the darkness was like being blind even to a cat. He sprinkled glitter on the floor behind them as they went on and made it stick to the ground so that the gentle breeze that sometimes swept by them wouldn't move it around. They proceeded slowly and several times they passed narrow passages to the sides. Everytime they came upon one Misto sent in a spark of light and let it travel until the passage came to a stop. Most of the times the light disappeared and a few minutes later it appeared again behind them. It had moved in a circle somehow before returning, it wasn't hard to see how one could easily get lost. When the light came back the same way they went in and explored the passage. Most of the times it ended in a trap and in one of the pits they could see the skeleton of a human not knowing if the person was a thief that had been caught by the pyramid or if it was an injured worker that had been left behind.

After what must have been at least an hour they came upon a trap pit where they could see the passage continuing on the other side of it. They both looked at each other. 'This is it' thought Cassandra. They could see markings on both sides of the deep pit that indicated some kind of bridge had been there but was now removed. Misto conjured a plank for them to walk over on. When they came to the other side Cassandra almost immediately saw the thin cracks in the side wall that indicated a door opening. She could barely breathe. Down to the left it was an opening that looked like a rat had digged its way out.

"Look, maybe there's a way in here!" she said and turned to Misto. They lay down and peeked inside, it was pitch dark and they had no idea if it was because the hole wasn't deep enough to go through or if it was just as dark on the other side of the wall. Misto used his magic to push some light through the hole and instead of it returning they could see a faint light from something that must be the room on the other side. The hole was only big enough for one cat to look at a time.

"Ladies first" said Misto and gestured for Cassandra to look inside. She put her face as far into the hole as she could and looked. "Can you see anything?" asked Misto impatiently.

"Yes, wonderful things" said Cassandra. It was all she could get out. Everything was covered in gold. The light Misto had pushed inside were reflected in almost every surface of the room and she could barely make out the details. She took out her head and Misto didn't need to get told to put his inside. Their ears stroked against each others as he hurried past her. At first he couldn't see anything because the light was so bright and he understood why Cassandra had been silent. But then he could make out the contours of statues, a chest and paintings made in gold all around the walls. He pulled his head back out and him and Cassandra just looked at each other with their mouths open. Neither could believe what they had just seen. The feeling exceeded anything they had ever felt before. It was like they were the only two cats in the world, and in a way they were since they belonged to another time. Misto couldn't tell why he did it but suddenly he felt himself pull Cassandra close and kiss her. He needed to be close to her, to share this, the exhilarating feeling had to come out in action. She kissed him back for a second before they both came to their senses again.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking" said Misto looking down at his feets. He felt so embarrassed that he had acted on the instinct. He didn't want Cassandra. There was something different with Cassandra though, a different smell that he couldn't put in place.

"No, it's okey Misto, don't think about it" said Cassandra. She felt her face being warm and wondered what on earth had made her kiss him back. It hadn't felt wrong but it didn't feel like there was any attraction between them.

"Everything just got so intense, I didn't mean to- you know I don't feel that way, it just.." Misto stuttered. He couldn't look at his friend although he hadn't heard any anger in her voice.

"No I understand, let's just pretend it never happened, ok?" said Cassandra and Misto nodded. He still looked embarrassed though. "I'm a bit overwhelmed as well" she said and laughed off some of the tension. "Hah, just this morning I warned Tugger not to come onto me, I didn't realise it was you I should keep my eyes on" she tried to joke.

"Haha yeah I just hold back at home, in reality I'm the impossible flirt" Misto couldn't help but laugh as well. When they said it out loud they both heard how absurd it sounded. There would never be anything but friendship between them. To lose the tension to laughter was liberating. It wasn't long before they both were laughing so hard they had to sit down. It was like the past day and night had been so filled with tension that they had to laugh for days to make up for it. Suddenly they heard a loud crack. They both turned their gaze up towards the ceiling just to see it approach them in pieces. Cassandra hid her face as she prepared herself to get crushed to death. The last thing she felt before being hit by the rocks were Misto grabbing her arm.

 **To be continued**

 **PS. Dont we all have a friend that we wanted to kiss at some point? That it has nothing with attraction to do, but only a need to get an overwhelming feeling out? Nope? Just me? Very well then...**


	5. Chapter 5

**This took a bit longer than I had planned. I was supposed to finish it during my day off earlier this week but I went on a winter campout instead (sorrynotsorry). But here it is, this has only been edited once, normally I go over it at least three times, so point out any errors and I will go back and fix them!**

 **I am super thankful for the lovely reviews, you guys really make my day and I hope you are enjoying the fun facts! I just want to point out though that I am no expert, just an enthusiast and if you see things that are not correct or where there has been discovered new information I would be more than happy if you let me know :)**

 **I don't own Cats or am an expert on Egypt.**

Cassandra felt a sharp pain when the rocks hit her. But it didn't come from above but from beneath. She thought she must have turned around somehow in shock, but that didn't explain why she was still alive though. She opened her eyes and got blinded by the light. Cassandra could hear Misto moan in pain beside her and reached out her paw to try and feel where he was. Her eyes slowly adjusted and when she felt fur in her paw she could see well enough to conclude it was Misto. In his normal black and white coat though. And then she frowned. 'How could she see that?' she thought. She looked around and understood that they were outside the pyramid again. There were no humans nearby so she didn't have to worry about Misto's coat, but the state of him was a bigger concern.

"Misto! Are you okey?" she asked and shook his shoulder carefully. Misto opened his eyes and Cassandra could see that he too was blinded by the light. She looked over his body quickly but couldn't see any obvious injuries.

"I think so" said Misto. He felt his eyesight come back to him and then fear struck him. "Are _you_ ok?" he asked.

"I think I am fine, just bruised. What happened?" she asked him.

"I reacted instinctively and took us out" he said and winced as he moved up to a sitting position. "But I thought we were deep underground so I aimed for a bit higher up than straight out, we must have been higher up than I thought" he said.

"Oh, yeah, most chambers are located in the middle of the pyramid but they are designed to make it feel like you are going deep down into them, and you usually assume you are deep down when it's that dark" Cassandra explained.

"That explains the hard fall then" said Misto and looked over his own body. It didn't seem like he was more than bruised himself either, he changed back his coat to match Cassandra's again.

"You saved our lives Misto, we would have been buried!" said Cassandra and heard herself almost sound angry when the extent of danger they had been in struck her.

"Well thank the Everlasting Cat for that, if I had failed Alonzo would've found a way to kill me again" he said sighing in relief.

"Hah, he might actually have done that" said Cassandra laughing. It was such a relief to be alive. Misto leaned his head against Cassandra's and took a deep breath and then he realised what he had felt earlier.

"Cassandra there is something you have to decide though" he said being serious again. Cassandra looked at him curiously. "It is obviously very dangerous to enter these monuments, they are designed to keep people out, and apparently cats as well and.." he didn't really know how to continue.

"We are here together Misto, it's not all my decision to make, don't feel like your opinion doesn't matter" said Cassandra when Misto didn't continue. She shouldn't have pressured him to enter. 'I have to try and read him better, I can't just assume he wants this the way I do' she thought with a sting of bad conscious.

"No it's not that Cassandra" said Misto and smiled. Cassandra gave him a confused frown. "You smell weird" he said and Cassandra's frown turned into raised eyebrows.

"Well aren't you the perfect gentleman, I have just spent the day in an old grave-" she started but got interrupted by Misto's laugh.

"Haha no not like that, you smell like- I am pretty sure you are pregnant Cassandra" he said bluntly. He had never smelled a pregnant queen before but every instinct in his body told him what he didn't know. Cassandra's mouth fell open and she stared at him in silence.

"How can you be sure?" she said when she got her voice back.

"I'm not, but...I just know somehow" he said and heard how unconvincing it actually sounded. But he couldn't really explain why he was so sure. "Oh, and you love fish but this morning you couldn't stand the smell of it, and you threw up!" he said happily as he found arguments that were a bit more concrete.

"I really am then?" she said trying to grasp the fact. She smiled. "Misto I am pregnant!" she cried out in joy and pounced on him in a hug. They both winced at the rough contact and were reminded about the fall they had before.

"I am really sorry about the fall Cassandra, if I had realised earlier I would have-" Misto started to apologise.

"I landed on my feet" said Cassandra. "Even though I landed hard i didn't get hurt, I am sure everything is fine" she said reassuring but she couldn't help but wonder if she had jeopardized anything with this trip. Alonzo would not be happy hearing about this. "But maybe we don't tell anyone about this particular incident?" she asked Misto.

"Haha that's fine by me, I don't feel any wish to see what Alonzo can do when he is angry with me" he said and tried to laugh. Even though the two toms was closer now he still felt a bit intimidated by him. "Ehm, and maybe something else didn't happen when we were in there?" said Misto carefully and now it was Cassandra's turn to laugh.

"I'm pretty sure all that happened in there was us finding one of the most spectacular findings in history" she said and they both let it go. But her words reminded them how rare the moment actually was.

"I left the plank over the pit" said Misto sounding miserable. "What if it's my fault that the people of our time never get to see the hidden treasures of the Cheops pyramid?" he asked and Cassandra could feel his pain.

"With a monument like that standing around someone is bound to find an entrance sooner or later" she said. "You have seen how the people here live, and there are 4000 years of people living in poverty before our time, sooner or later someone will plunder the graves" she said and she felt like she had a much better understanding of the motives of the thieves than she had before. She thought it was only greed that pushed humans into plundering the chambers of the pyramids but it must have been an unbearable taunt to live here like a slave. Working their way to death to put up a monument for someone to be buried in. To see it everyday and know that just a fraction of the treasures hidden inside would save the lives of everyone you knew.

"You're right" said Misto. "The pharaohs didn't deserve these" he said pointing towards the pyramids. "The gold should have been used for something that benefited the people instead" he concluded and he saw the same understanding in Cassandra's eyes. This time he had no problem reading her expression.

The sun was starting to set in front of them. They must have been inside the pyramid far longer than they first thought. It was like the time had stopped the minute the darkness inside surrounded them. The two cats started to make their way back into the city and the discarded basket that had been their den for the last night. On their way back they caught themselves a mouse each. They found their temporary home and crawled inside. As the sun set the temperature dropped and they cuddled closely together for warmth.

"I should take you home first thing tomorrow" said Misto to Cassandra. He had put his arm around her for warmth and protection and it rested over her flat belly. He knew it was the right thing to do, he could not keep a pregnant queen this far away from her mate.

"Yeah, we should go home" said Cassandra. "But we shouldn't have gone in the first place" she continued and Misto felt his heart sink. He felt guilty for being persuaded to go when he probably should've talked her out of it. "We haven't done what we should so far, so why start now?" asked Cassandra and hoped that Misto understood. He smiled into her neck.

"I should have known you would say that" he said. "So what do you feel like doing tomorrow?" he asked her.

"I would love to stay another day or two" said Cassandra. "We haven't visited any temples, we haven't seen any magic and we haven't talked to any other cats, but it feel like we have already experienced more than I ever could've imagined" she continued. "What do you feel like doing?" she asked.

"I feel like keeping my fur if Alonzo finds out that we realised you were pregnant on the first day and therefore I want to go home" he said jokingly but he could hear that Cassandra wasn't amused. "But if there was a possibility of us 'discovering' things in another order I would love to stay" he said and could feel Cassandra stir in his hold. She turned to face him.

"We're doing what we feel like no matter what others think" she stated. "And Alonzo does whatever I ask him to, including staying away from your fur" she said with a cheeky smile. "But I think we can adjust the order of actions, time travel can be confusing like that" she said and they both laughed.

"Then let's get some sleep and see what tomorrow brings" said Misto and turned her over to lay with her back against him and he held her tight through the night.

* * *

Cassandra woke up first the next day. It was starting to get hot outside and the extra heat from Misto holding her was making her too warm. She carefully loosened herself a bit from his grip without waking him up and listened to the sounds outside. It sounded like the city was waking up as well. She could hear voices, someone sweeping with a broom, a cat meowing not too far away. Today they would try and seek out some other cats and hopefully get to know more. It was one question that had lingered from yesterday, or actually since she first learned about it at the museum. The Egyptians loved cats, worshipped them, kept them as pets and mourned them when they died. Cassandra wanted to know if the cats living in Egypt understood this and if they did, how they felt about the sacrifices made to the pharaohs. She could hear someone pulling a cart along the narrow road where they had made their temporary home. They had been so safe there that she had almost forgotten something could happen to them in that basket. As the cart pulled closer she could hear what sounded like cursing from the man dragging it and when Cassandra peeked through the holes she saw his foot kicking the basket right between her eyes. She let out a loud cry in pain as the basket lifted into the air and with another bolt of sharp pain in her left side they landed a few metres away. Cassandra winced in pain as she tried to get up and see how Misto was doing. The cart had stopped outside and she heard footsteps hurrying closer.

"Misto are you okey?" she asked when she couldn't really turn around and look. The pain in her side was pulsating and she put her paw on it, just over her last rib on the left.

"What happened?" Misto asked instead and Cassandra could hear the pain in his voice.

"We got kicked" she explained. "Look, someone is coming so get your coat fixed if you haven't already" she said and tried to focus on something else but the pain.

"Oh, thank you" said Misto just before a hand carefully turned the basket to look inside. The two Jellicles rolled into each other and let out groans in pain. Their eyes met a pair of brown human eyes widened in panic and belonging to an older boy. Seeing that the cats both were alive seemed to calm him down a bit but the panic came back when Cassandra let out a hiss in pain as he tried to pick her up. The boy quickly let go. He was talking to himself or maybe to them in a language they couldn't understand. The boy took a deep breath and then carefully lifted the whole basket with the two cats in it and put it down on his cart. He couldn't turn it around in the narrow street where they were so he pushed it back instead.

"What are we doing now? Do we follow?" asked Misto looking at her. Seeing her keep pushing her paw to her side made his eyes widen very much like the boy's had earlier. "Cassandra!? Oh no, please tell me you are okey?" Misto said as he seemed to have forgotten about his own pain.

"I think I'm okey, I must have broken a rib or something" she said and tried to smile. "But I think we will have to follow along for a bit, I don't think I can jump off like this" she said and swallowed. She hoped the boy would try and help them but she was afraid he might just try to get them away so that no one would know about this. He was still just a boy.

"I don't think I can either" said Misto miserably and held up his paw. It had a nasty angle to it and Cassandra could see that it would not hold up for a jump of any kind. "Oh Cassandra I don't think I can even take us home like this" he said and she saw his eyes fill up with tears.

"It's okey Misto, really" she said and moved closer to him to put her arm over his shoulders. "These things happen, let's just follow this boy, maybe he will help us get better?" she said trying to focus on the positive side of it, the boy hadn't just left them there and so far he had handled them very carefully.

"Alonzo will kill me.." Misto mumbled mostly to himself and Cassandra pulled him to her chest and gave him a loving nuzzle.

"I wouldn't let him" she said with a smile. "You're my best friend" she said and straightened up a bit again.

"But what if-" Misto started but got cut off by Cassandra.

"Now we will focus on the bright side of things, ok?" she decided. She didn't dare to think about the opposite.

The boy stopped the cart and set it down making sure he didn't shake it too much. He looked around and then picked up the basket with the two cats in it. Misto and Cassandra looked at each other a bit worried. It didn't feel like a good sign that the boy was concerned that no one saw them. The boy went through a door in the building next to them and they came into what must have been his home. The boy started talking to them but they couldn't understand any of it, Misto could only translate written things. The boy made a temporary bed for them hidden behind a hung up blanket and took it much more gentle as he pick them up one by one and put them on the bed. He must have realised where they both were hurt because he made certain to hold them away from their injuries this time. He held out his hands making a gesture they interpreted as 'stay here' and then turned around and left. Misto turned his gaze at Cassandra.

"He didn't hurt you when he picked you up?" he asked.

"No I think he understood this time" she said. "And I think maybe the pain has subsided a bit" she added and tried to make herself comfortable on the other blanket that worked as their bed. The pain really was getting better she realised.

"Can I look at it more closely?" Misto asked. He knew he wouldn't be able to do much with his paw in that condition but maybe he could do some basic healing with his good paw. Cassandra turned her left side to him and lifted her arm over her head to give him better access. Misto hesitated a bit before he put his paw on her. He hadn't had a friend like this before and due to what happened earlier he didn't want to cross any lines again.

"It's okey Misto, just forget about that stupid kiss, it meant nothing and we both have other cats we'd rather kiss" she said with a wink. Misto blushed a bit and just nodded. Cassandra reminded herself to investigate if Misto had pulled his head out of the sand on that subject yet.

"Does this hurt?" asked Misto as he stroked her over the area below the ribs. Cassandra shook her head. "And this?" he asked and she winced in pain as he put a light pressure on the last rib. "So that's a yes, I just have to check how far up it goes, ok?" he asked her and she nodded. The second rib from below gave him the same reaction but when he moved further up she didn't feel any pain. "Okey, I think it's just two ribs, but they are unfortunately broken, I can't fix that right now but I can heal some of the surrounding tissue" he said and picked up a spark of light from thin air in his good paw. He held the light in his paw until it glowed yellow without giving away sparks. "Just relax" he said and gently pushed the glowing light towards her rib cage. For a second it hurt really bad and Cassandra bit her lip to not pull away. But soon the pain melted away and she felt a warmth soothing it on the inside. She looked down and saw her left side glow in a red colour,as if someone held a flashlight inside her. The light faded but the pain stayed away.

"It feels better" she said. "Thank you Misto!" he stopped her just when she was about to dive in for a hug.

"The tissue is healed but not the bones, if you move around too much it will just rip open again" he pointed out. "If you can just stay still now for a couple of hours I can try again and maybe heal some of the bone as well" he said with a smile but it faded as he watched his hurt paw.

"Can I do anything for you Misto?" said Cassandra as Misto carefully laid down next to her.

"Tell me a story?" he asked with a smile and Cassandra smiled back.

"Okey, what about?" she asked.

"Tell me something I don't know about Egypt" he said and made himself comfortable as close to her as he dared without upsetting their injuries.

"Did you know that the Egyptians living here call the northern part of the country lower Egypt?" Misto shook his head. "It is because the Nile river flows from south to north making the north part of the country the lower part of the river delta. Every year the river rise so high that it floods the whole area around it. They call it the black and red land. The black being the good soil that the river flushed the banks with that makes it possible to grow anything at all in the desert. The rest of it is called the red land, that is the stony desert where almost nothing at all can grow. Did you know the breaking point is so sharp that you can stand with one foot in the red land and the other in the black land?" Cassandra asked and looked at Misto. His eyes were closed and he didn't seem to have noticed that she stopped talking. Cassandra smiled. 'Maybe helping him get some sleep was the best thing she could do for him' she thought and it didn't take too long before Misto's breathing got heavier and she let him sleep.

* * *

Cassandra must have fallen asleep herself since she found herself waking up. She looked at Misto and as if he felt her gaze he opened up his eyes and looked at her.

"Sorry I fell asleep" said Misto. He hoped she hadn't taken offense that he didn't hear the whole story.

"It's okey, I think you needed the sleep more than the story" she said with a smile. "The boy hasn't been back has he?" she asked. Cassandra knew that Misto probably were as clueless in that area as herself though.

"No I don't think so" he said. "Did you sleep some too?" he asked her and she nodded. "How do you feel now?" he asked looking concerned.

"I think it's better" she said. She hadn't moved yet but for now the pain was almost gone. "I've been still though, how about you?" she said.

"Let me try some more healing before you move" said Misto and Cassandra noted that he had ignored her question. Misto used his good paw to carefully feel the ribs before he conjured up a glowing ball of light in his hand again. This time the light was less yellow and more white, like the moon rather than the sun. He gently pushed the light towards her ribs and in slipped through the fur and into her body. It didn't hurt like last time and Cassandra relaxed. She looked down and saw the same red light glowing inside her. She gasped for air as she felt the light push against her lower rib, almost like it bounced against it. It didn't hurt, but it was a weird feeling, and then it moved upwards and pushed against the next rib. After that the light went deeper into her stomach and slowly faded. She looked up at Misto who looked tired but pleased.

"Did it work?" she asked.

"I think so" said Misto with a smile. "And I checked on something else as well, no other injuries and I think I felt another presence in there, so Alonzo might let me live" he said with a wink and this time Cassandra smiled at the joke.

"You're amazing Misto, thank you" she said. "Now, what can I do for your paw?" she asked.

"I don't know" said Misto and looked a bit concerned at the sight of it. His paw hadn't really gotten any better from the rest but he felt stronger in his magic again. "I can't heal my own injuries but I think that maybe if we can support it a little I might be able to try and walk on it a bit" he said. The two cats looked up and around them for something they could use as a splint. Instead they ended up looking into the eyes of an old abyssinian queen who watched them curiously.

"Hello?" said Cassandra hesitantly. She wasn't sure if the expression on the other cats face were friendly or not.

"You are a magic cat" she stated and looked at Misto. She talked a bit differently but they could understand each other well enough.

"Ehm yes" he said and blushed a little. He hadn't planned on revealing that to just anyone.

"What can you do besides healing?" she asked. Misto wasn't sure but he thought he heard a change in her voice. LIke she was a bit scared, but it could've been the accent.

"Ehm, I can do a lot of things" he said hesitantly and looked at Cassandra. He wasn't sure it was a good idea to reveal too much but there was something about this old queen, something genuinely good. "Are you a magic cat as well?" he thought of asking and the queen lifted her eyebrows in surprise.

"No, no I'm not" she answered with a chuckle. "You are not from here are you?" she asked and the tone of her voice was friendlier now.

"No, we are not used to the city" said Cassandra and hoped it would be enough of an explanation.

"Very well" said the queen. "I can tell you don't want to say more about that, that's okey for now, but bear in mind that I know you hide something" she said cryptically.

"We will" said Cassandra and glanced at Misto. He looked down at his injured paw with a frown between his eyebrows. "Are you okey Misto?" she asked him in a whisper. Misto looked at her in surprise as if he'd been brought out of a daydream and then over at the old abyssinian queen.

"Will you help me with my paw?" he asked.

"How do you know I can?" she asked back looking more curious than hostile.

"There is something about you, you do good, you help people" he said. The feeling was strong but he didn't know where it came from.

"I do" said the queen and straightened up. "But I am not sure you do" she said narrowing her eyes. There was a long silence as the queen looked Misto over again. "But I think you do" she concluded. Misto realised he had been holding his breath and let it out.

"I try" he said with a smile. "I am Mistoffelees and this is Cassandra by the way" he said and carefully limped forward to great the queen properly.

"Don't put any pressure on that paw yet" she said and came over to them instead. "I can trust you with my mortal name even though I won't give you my Ren, I am Cleopatra" she said and Misto looked at Cassandra a bit confused.

"And we would never ask it of you" said Cassandra and then turned to Misto "I'll tell you later" she whispered.

"So you _do_ know some things about us here" said the queen looking at Cassandra raising an eyebrow. She changed her facial expression to a smile instead. "Let's fix that paw now" she said and the two Jellicles could see her sudden resemblance with Jennyanydots.

* * *

After a thorough exam and a steady splint Misto could move around almost normally. It still hurt a bit but the splint kept everything in place and he could tell that this wasn't the first time the queen had done something like this.

"Thank you, it feels much better" he said with a smile.

"It was nothing dear" the old queen said sounding so much like Jenny that the two jellicles almost felt like home again.

"Do you understand the humans?" asked Cassandra.

"Of course I do, you don't?" she asked and Cassandra bit her lip.

"They speak differently here" she said and the queens look was a reminder that she knew they hadn't told her everything. "I was just wondering about the boy, are we safe here?" she asked.

"I think you are" said the queen. "Though it would probably be better if you stayed some place else tonight, I will show you a safe space" she assured them and even though they didn't know how the two cats knew they could trust her. The queen made a sign for them to follow her.

 **Since I left you with a cliffhanger last time I figured I could get away with a less dramatic ending this time ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**First of all I want to sincerely apologise for putting off writing on this story. I had an itch I needed to scratch with another story and they were so completely different that I didn't want to write on them at the same time. I really like this story and I wanted to give it the attention it deserves. Secondly I wanted to say THANK YOU for everyone reading and reviewing this story, it means so much that you take it to your hearts because it is very dear to me ;)**

 **With that said, this is the first half of what I originally had planned for the 6th chapter, but since I had you on hold for this long I decided to post it anyway. There will be funfacts for everyone reviewing as per usual, enjoy!**

 **I don't own Cats and I am no expert on ancient Egypt.**

* * *

They wandered slowly through the city. Mostly because of Misto's paw but it seemed like Cleopatra also was a bit stiff in her joints. The cats they met greeted the old queen but looked suspiciously at Misto and Cassandra, no one stopped to talk but it didn't seem to bother Cleopatra. They moved at a steady pace through the marketplace and as they had passed all through it they were met with a faint smell of rotten food. They kept moving towards the smell and when Cleopatra stopped the two Jellicles looked at each other in surprise. They were in the local junkyard. It didn't look like the junkyard at home but the feeling was similar. It looked deserted at first but when they stopped Cassandra could see eyes peeking out from their hiding places.

"This is where I go when I am not with my family, this is my tribe" she said with a smile.

"You are a Jellicle" said Misto as he realised. He had been wondering why communication came so easily since it was nothing like this with the other cats of London.

"I am a what?" asked the queen looking confused. Misto felt embarrassed for saying it out loud, he did not make a very good job of keeping their secret.

"Oh ehm, that is just something we say at home, you don't happen to celebrate the moon in any way?" he asked trying to sound casual but yelped in surprise as Cassandra grabbed his arm. He saw her looking at him with her eyes widened. And then he saw her eyes tear up and she put her paw over her mouth. She had finally realised that Cleopatra must be one of the ancestors that she sung about at the ball.

"We do have that, but it will be a long while until next time" answered Cleopatra and looked at Cassandra with a curious frown. "Is everything okey?" she asked carefully.

"It is fine" said Cassandra who had managed to compose herself a little. "We have that same kind of celebration at home and I got a little emotional" she said trying to laugh about it.

"That is no wonder in your condition" said the old queen raising her eyebrow and Cassandra gaped in surprise.

"You know?" asked Misto in Cassandra's place.

"I have met a couple of pregnant queens in my days, congratulations to you both" she said with a smile and the two Jellicles blushed and avoided each others eyes.

"We are not eh.. mates" said Misto feeling awkward that everyone assumed that. It made him feel like he behaved inappropriately around his friend.

"Oh I see" said Cleopatra. "I just assumed since there was such strong love between you two, you can almost touch it" she continued with a wink and Misto got very interested in his right foot as Cassandra inspected her left paws claws carefully. "You must be very close friends then" concluded Cleopatra with a tone that made the two younger cats look up at her thankfully.

"Yeah, friends" said Cassandra.

"I can't introduce you to the tribe just yet" said Cleopatra letting the subject go. "But I will show you a guest den that we always have ready for times like these. Then I must insist that we go somewhere to look more closely at that paw Mistoffelees" she said and you could tell she was used to taking care of others.

* * *

The two Jellicles had been shown the guest den that always stood ready for visitors and Cassandra wondered why they didn't have this at home. It was located just inside the junkyard but a bit away from the rest of the tribe. She guessed that it was to protect the tribe if the guests they let in brought any trouble. Cleopatra made sure that they had everything they needed there and a few things they didn't need as well before she reminded them that Misto's paw needed more attention. Misto hadn't felt much pain at all from his paw, it just felt stiff since he couldn't move it in any direction at all but he guessed it wouldn't hurt to have it examined again and he was curious to see what the old queen could do. From the tour at the museum they had learned that medicine and magic were closely related in this culture. He looked at Cassandra who had been keeping close to Cleopatra ever since she realised they were probably distant relatives.

"Now, let's go see Ahmose" said Cleopatra. "The father of the boy who brought you to my house" she clarified for the two confused cats. "He knows medicine and helps with the sick and injured" she said and walked out before they could ask anything else.

Cleopatra seemed to have regained some energy because she pushed on at a faster pace this time. Misto got the impression that she was more alert as well and was scouting for danger although she just waved him off when he asked about it. Finally they reached what must be their destination and Cleopatra entered the house. Misto and Cassandra followed her. When they had walked over here Misto had a bad feeling in his stomach. He couldn't really put his finger on what it was but there was a slight chill down his spine and he found himself going over the reasons why he felt they could trust this old queen. If she would lead them into a trap he wouldn't be strong enough to get them out of it. He needed the help, but he also had to protect Cassandra if anything happened. They had to trust Cleopatra on this one, no matter what his gut told him.

As they entered the building every doubt melted away. It was like they had entered through a waterfall that washed away whatever it was that gave the chills. Misto looked at Cassandra and she seemed to relax as well. They followed Cleopatra into another room where a man stood at a workbench and looked like he grounded something into a powder. Cleopatra went over and brushed her head against the man's leg and he looked down at her surprised. The man said something and leaned down to pet Cleopatra before she turned towards them and the man looked in the same direction. He frowned as he saw that Misto's paw was supported by a splint and said something to Cleopatra before he came over to the Jellicles.

"He will try and help you" said Cleopatra when Misto moved in front of Cassandra to protect her from the man. "Let him look at your paw, he will be careful and he knows how to help" she said reassuringly and just as before Misto felt himself trusting the old queen even though he couldn't tell why.

The man lifted up Misto carefully, making sure that he didn't touch the paw yet. Cassandra couldn't help but letting out a worried cry as the man put down Misto on the workbench out of sight from her. The man looked at her surprised before he came over and picked her up as well and put her next to Misto on the bench.

"He says that he understands that your mate is concerned" said Cleopatra with a smile that made Cassandra blush again. 'Did she react inappropriately being just friends?' she thought but got cut off by the other queen. "Okey Mistoffelees, he says he will remove the splint now and that it will hurt but he needs you to stay calm and move as little as possible" she said and Misto nodded. The man carefully loosened the splint and Misto held his breath as he felt the pain from earlier shoot back out into it. It had probably not done any good walking around on it but they'd had no choice. The man carefully examined the paw and then said something.

"What does he say?" asked Cassandra impatiently looking at Cleopatra.

"He says it has dislocated but that he thinks he can fix it" she said and the man spoke again. "Okey Misto, he says this will hurt a lot, try to relax as much as you can" said Cleopatra but she looked worried. Just as Misto felt he needed to reassure her that he would be fine the man took a firm grip on his injured paw and with a twist and a jerk he caused Misto more pain than he had ever felt in his life. For a second his vision turned white and he screamed out in pain, and the next one he felt sweat break out all over his body and then everything went black.

* * *

"Misto?" Misto heard a voice and felt someone shake his shoulder. He opened his eyes and relaxed a bit when he saw Cassandra's face even though it looked terribly worried.

"I'm here, I mean, I'm okey" said Misto and lifted up his paw and stroked her cheek. Then he looked at his paw and his mouth fell open. "Cassandra, look! It's healed!" he said and wriggled it back and forth to try it out.

"I know, it's fantastic, Ahmose says it will be fully healed in a few days but you can probably walk on it already!" she said and smiled.

"Ahmose?" said Misto confused and looked around to see the man that had caused him so much pain. Now he couldn't be more thankful for it and got up to thank him. Misto pressed his head against Ahmose hand and purred. Ahmose started speaking.

"He says that if he didn't know better he would think you were magical" said Cleopatra with a knowing look and Misto gave Cassandra a worrying glance.

"Your.. your coat changed" she said and Misto looked down in horror just to find it matching Cassandra's. "Just for a few seconds" she told him and tried to look like it was all okey. Ahmose started talking again and the two Jellicles looked at Cleopatra.

"He says he needs to get back to work but that he will put out some food for us in the back and he told me to take good care of you two" she translated.

All three followed Ahmose out to the back of his workhouse. Misto gave Cassandra a worried look as Ahmose picked out some fish for them. She gave it a trying sniff and it worked out better today. Ahmose went back in to work again and the three cats ate in silence for a while. The whole ordeal had taken quite a lot of their energy and based on the position of the sun it was late in the afternoon already. When Misto started to feel full he looked up at the other two.

"What did he mean with _if I didn't know better_ I thought you were magical?" he asked with a frown.

"Haha you should have heard him speak after he had fixed your paw" said Cassandra with a laugh. "I think Cleopatra cleaned the translation up a bit but Ahmose does not have too much faith in the 'magic' the priests use to heal people" she continued smiling towards Cleopatra.

"Well if you would rather hear the direct translation" said Cleopatra "I think his exact words were 'those jokers know nothing of medicine but a lot about making stupid people believe in magic, wave an amulet and some fancy herbs around and people forget who did the real job" she finished trying to hold a smirk back. Both Cassandra and Misto gave it an honest chance to hold back before they exploded in laughter.

"I'm sorry Misto" said Cassandra as they composed themselves again.

"What for?" he asked confused.

"For.. well I guess for the magic not being real" she said. Misto saw in the corner of his eye that Cleopatra stiffened a bit. 'They weren't the only ones that held something back' he thought.

"It's hardly your fault" he said with a smile and he cut her off when she tried to apologise again. "And my magic is real, which just makes me feel more special" he said with a wink.

"About that" said Cleopatra narrowing her eyes. Both Jellicles got nervous at her tone. "You are quite a long way from home?" she said raising an eyebrow. Misto and Cassandra looked at each other. It felt horrible to keep lying to someone who had helped them so much but they had no idea what revealing the truth might bring.

"We came by boat from-" Cassandra started but Cleopatra just snorted and waved her paw.

"I'm bringing you in to meet my tribe, I think I deserve to know who I am taking, I saw your coat Mistoffelees, there is no cat looking like that near or far from here" she said and nailed him with her eyes. Misto broke the eye contact and looked at Cassandra, she nodded.

"We come from… well you have seen my magic" Misto started. "I can also travel with the help of magic" he continued and Cleopatra's eyebrows raised just slightly. "Like this" he said grabbing Cassandra's paw and taking them a few metres away. He wanted to get them both away some distance if the old queen reacted badly. But to his surprise Cleopatra started laughing. The two Jellicles looked at each other as Cleopatra tried to catch her breath again.

"Now I understand why you and Cassandra found it so funny when Ahmose described the magic, this is something entirely different" she said with a wide smile. They relaxed a bit and started to walk back again. "So where do you come from?" she asked and this time her voice only held curiosity.

"We come from London" said Cassandra and Cleopatra frowned.

"Never heard of it" she said but looked like she knew there was something more to it.

"We..eh, we're coming from a different time...I think you might be one of our ancestors" said Cassandra carefully as she saw the distrust in the old queens eyes.

"Like my grandchildren?" she asked sceptically.

"More like 400th generation of your grandchildren" said Misto trying to be helpful but only earning a gaping mouth. The two Jellicles looked at each other when Cleopatra hadn't said anything for almost a minute. The old queen came back to the present with a shake of her shoulders and a small laugh.

"I guess I'll have to introduce you to your family then" she said and turned back to walk back to the junkyard they came from. The two time travellers followed her hearing her mutter something that sounded an awful lot like 'Oh well, never have I ever..'

* * *

 **They will meet the tribe, how exciting is that!? I can't wait to write this one!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay another chapter! I decided to post it as a present to myself since it's my birthday today and what's better than a present you can enjoy as well? ;) The last of this chapter have been edited several times, first of all I f'cked up the tempus in a way that made me doubt my sanity as I tried to fix it, and second of all it started to get a bit too long so I have saved a bit of the reflections from this evening until the morning after. Please let me know what you think, I love criticism, keep it constructive :) And oh, I'm a sucker for praise as well ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Cats and am no expert in ancient Egypt.**

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Misto recognized the same kind of tension in Cleopatra's walk on the way back. This time he didn't interpret it as a danger to themselves but it was obvious that the old queen were on high alert walking through this area. Misto tried to ask about it but in the same way as earlier that day Cleopatra just waved him off. It all felt a lot safer when they reached the junkyard again and the whole trio relaxed.

"I thought I'd leave you to yourselves for a bit and go talk to the tribe before I'll introduce you" said Cleopatra. "They are always a bit nervous around strangers but I think they will like you" she said smiling but then got a bit more serious. "Is there anything else you are hiding from me?" she asked and the two Jellicles shook their heads. They both felt guilty about not telling Cleopatra everything right away, but at the same time they knew they had to be careful before they were certain they could trust her. Cleopatra left them and Misto turned to Cassandra.

"I was so afraid telling her at first" he said with a little laugh of relief.

"Yeah, I am not so sure I would have taken it that well if it happened at home, would you?" Cassandra asked Misto.

"You mean if two complete strangers came into our junkyard and claimed to be time travellers and our future relatives? Nope" he said sarcastically and they laughed. "But there is something about Cleopatra" said Misto with a thoughtful frown. "She's not magical but..." he started but couldn't find the words to continue.

"But she is very wise, like she has lived many lives" said Cassandra thinking out loud and Misto looked at her trying to grab and hold on to a fleeing thought. "She can see through you, see you for who you really are.. see the good in others" she said and realised that Cleopatra reminded her of a cat she knew at home. Before Cassandra got the chance to ask Misto what he thought Cleopatra came back.

"Are you ready to meet them?" she asked and they both nodded with excitement. They were nervous though. This was their distant relatives. They would look a lot like them both since Misto had kept his coat changed to the same as Cassandra, but no matter what they looked like they would be Jellicles, it couldn't be just Cleopatra who were so alike them.

They walked slowly towards the centre of the junkyard. They came to an open area very much like their own clearing at home and was met by a lot of sceptical looks but here and there a few more curious ones. Every cat looked the same to them.

"This is Cassandra and Mistoffelees" said Cleopatra introducing them but most of the tribe members did nothing to greet them. A few of the younger ones crept closer questioningly even though they hesitated to go all the way up to them. Misto and Cassandra tried to smile and look around but no one wanted to look them in the eyes. Cassandra almost felt like crying when no one would open up and let them in when she suddenly met the gaze of a young queen in a coat so light brown it was almost white. Cassandra smiled and the young queen looked over at Cleopatra who nodded. Slowly the white queen came closer and held out her paw. Cassandra opened her paw as an invitation and felt the soft touch of the other cats paw in hers. They both smiled and nuzzled their heads against each others. The acceptation from the young queen sent a wave through the rest of the tribe who all came forward to greet them.

* * *

It was all very confusing to the two Jellicles. The felt accepted and they understood everything the new cats said to them but their minds just kept spinning with all the information. There was one name here and one name there and even though everyone looked the same in the beginning they were starting to see different coat patterns and larger and smaller cats but to match them with the name they presented seemed an impossible task. Cassandra felt herself getting a bit light headed and tried to find Cleopatra in the crowd of the new tribe. She was easy to spot being bigger than most of the others and with her coat not as sleek and perfect as the others. Cassandra remembered what she had thought earlier about Cleopatra. An old cat that has lived many lives, bigger and wiser than the rest of the tribe, the leader of them. She smiled as she could confirm her earlier thought to be true, Cleopatra was very much like Old Deuteronomy and it was no wonder anymore why she had seen through their lies. And it was no wonder they had trusted her with the whole truth in the end.

"I think we will have to give the guests a bit more space" said Cleopatra smiling at Cassandra. She had seen the stress build up for a second and didn't want this evening to be more overwhelming than it already was. The rest of the tribe backed up a little and Misto and Cassandra gave Cleopatra a thankful look. "I want you all to prepare for an evening of celebration" she said and the rest of the tribe looked at each other with excitement. "Berenice would you escort us to your den?" Cleopatra asked a queen who gave them a motherly smile and a nod.

Cassandra and Misto followed the two queens a bit confused. They came to a den built from what looked like the remains of a small boat lying upside down and crawled inside with Cleopatra and Berenice. Cassandra remembered Berenice from the introduction earlier, she had leaned in close, sniffed her and given her a knowing look that Cassandra couldn't read. The two Jellicles looked at Cleopatra who opened her mouth at the same time as Berenice started talking.

"And how are the soon to be mother and her mate feeling today?" Berenice asked with a smug smile and Misto and Cassandra both blushed to a deep red. 'Will everyone keep doing this?' thought Cassandra embarrassed but they were saved by Cleopatra.

"I should have known you already figured it out" she said with a smile. "Mistoffelees is Cassandra's close friend and protector on their journey" she said with a look that suggested to Misto that he took on that second role even though he hadn't claimed it himself. Mistoffelees nodded and swallowed, Cassandra wasn't a queen that always welcomed help but he had to remember to offer it anyway. It wasn't only about keeping them safe, he also wanted his friend to be comfortable and now that his paw had healed he felt he had to step up his game.

"Oh what an extraordinary friendship between a tom and a queen" said Berenice tilting her head to the side and smiling. "Well then, let's do a thorough examination to make sure everything is proceeding the way it should" she continued efficiently and Misto laughed at the striking resemblance with Jennyanydots.

"Will you two be alright here if I go out and organize the celebration?" Cleopatra asked and before the two Jellicles could answer Berenice had started shooing her out the opening.

"They will be lovely, just leave everything to me and you will have them both back when I am done" Berenice made sure and Cleopatra managed to send them a wink before getting pushed the last way out. "Now, lie down and relax" she said to Cassandra and the two Jellicles surrendered to her guidance.

* * *

After being turned, pinched, poked and questioned about everything Cassandra felt exhausted. She looked at Misto who seemed to be just as exhausted as herself, his face still a bit red after some of the more detailed questions Cassandra had to answer. Berenice had went over to a corner of the den and came back with a mouse in one paw and a piece of leather in the other.

"Now dear" she said to Cassandra handing her the mouse. "You start on this one, I want it gnawed down to the bone" she said and Cassandra saw no reason to argue with that, she was starving. "But make sure you don't lose a single bone, I want them all in a neat pile over here, alright?" she said and tapped the floor with one paw. Cassandra decided it wasn't a too weird request and obliged. Berenice turned to Misto. "And how handy are you with a needle?" she asked a startled Misto.

"Eh.. I think I can do the basics" he stuttered, thankful for the obligatory lessons the Old Gumbie cat had held with them all at home.

"Then I want this in a little pouch small enough to be comfortably worn around the neck" Berenice said and handed him the piece of leather with a needle and a string of thread. Misto had barely accepted the things in his grasp before Berenice started for the opening in the den explaining how she had to make sure the rest of the tribe did what they were expected to and that she would soon be back.

Misto and Cassandra were left alone and they both let go of a breath they must have held onto through most of the examination. Misto started measuring up the piece of leather while Cassandra chewed the mouse.

"Do you want some as well?" asked Cassandra politely. She didn't think she would be full herself on the little mouse but she didn't want Misto to feel forgotten.

"If I want to eat up the pregnant queen's food?" he asked raising an eyebrow and Cassandra started laughing. "Besides I can hunt for my own food now, you eat it" he said with a smile and a wave with his healed paw. He was pretty sure that he was already on thin ice with how to handle the whole pregnancy thing, he didn't need to eat her food as well. Misto started sewing together the leather pouch and Cassandra continued to eat the mouse.

"Misto..?" Cassandra asked after they had been silent for a while. Misto looked at her and saw that something was bothering her.

"Is something wrong?" he asked worried.

"I just...are we, I mean.. everyone keeps assuming we are mates, are we doing anything wrong?" she asked and Misto lay down the pouch and went over to her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"No" he said firmly. "But we are alone, very far away from home in more than just distance, it's not weird if it looks like we are as close as mates, we only have each other here" he said and kissed her on the head. Cassandra looked up at him.

"But Justin also assumed it, at home" she said, her eyebrows frowned together. Misto only felt friendship now, no unexplainable urge to kiss her, just a want to be close a good friend and actually knowing how to this time.

"Well, Justin might get fired for spending his days at work talking to cats and feeding them dog candy so I don't think we should trust his judgement too much" said Misto and they both laughed. "Come on Cassandra, the only thing that matters is that we know we are friends" he said and nuzzled her ear. It was easier to accept for himself as well when he gave her the advice.

"You're right" she said. "But I have never had a friend like you, this is something special" she said and nuzzled him back in the crook of his neck.

"Well special isn't something bad, everyone thinks my friendship with Tugger is special but-" he cut himself of. "Never mind" he said as he remembered that the friendship he had with Tugger might be about to change.

"No tell me" said Cassandra careful not to push too far. She was curious but she didn't want to scare him off.

"We are friends but.." he started. "He also sings my song at the ball you know, it's just special" he said deciding last minute not to say more.

"Yeah, that is really special" said Cassandra wondering how she could ask more without really asking. "How come he does that?" she asked instead. Misto smiled to himself.

"It's a long story" he said but he kind of wanted her to insist.

"You owe me a story, I promise I won't fall asleep" she said and winked at him. She leaned her head against his shoulder and they settled next to each other.

"Haha, alright then" he said. "We were actually pretty good friends before that happened as well but it was my first year as a tom" he started and smiled at the memory. "A lot of things happen in your body, I don't know how much difference there is for a queen but for me it was a mess" he said with a chuckle, Cassandra smiled at her own confused memories from that transition. "My magic acted up, I couldn't do the simplest things and sometimes I could do really powerful things, but I wasn't in control. One day when I had snuck off to practise alone thinking it might be some kind of stage fright that held me back Tugger had followed me. Nothing worked when I tried and I got more and more frustrated" Misto said and looked down at Cassandra, still wide awake as she had promised. He was a bit embarrassed about the next part. "Well Tugger came out and started to tell me how I only needed to work on my confidence, that if I believed in myself I could do anything" Cassandra raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Yeah, yeah, very insightful for Tugger, the only problem was that whatever he did he was confident, I don't think he has a bone in his body that for a second doubts he can do anything. To hear from a cat who hasn't felt insecure ever in his life that it was all about confidence wasn't really what I needed to hear" said Misto.

"What did you do?" asked Cassandra. She had forgotten about the mouse a long while ago and couldn't contain her curiosity.

"I snapped" said Misto with an embarrassed little laughter. "I yelled at him until he had crouched to be shorter than me and he just nodded and left with his tail between his legs like a pollicle" said Misto and they both started laughing. He had felt horrible afterwards but now when he told Cassandra it was actually pretty funny.

"And then what?" she asked when they had stopped laughing.

"I felt really bad but Tugger didn't show for the rest of the day so I had no chance to apologise to him. Then the next day I was walking into the clearing when I saw all the kittens sit by a large refrigerator and looking up so I walked over and asked them what they did. They had played with a ball of yarn and it had gotten stuck up on top of the refrigerator and now they couldn't get it down again. So one of them said something like 'is there anyone who can help us get it down again?' and before I could answer Tugger appeared from behind of it and started to sing _You ought to ask Magical Mister Mistoffelees the original conjuring cat.._ I swear he had planned it all along" said Misto and shook his head smiling. "So he had written me a whole song to boost my confidence" he explained and started laughing. It was so typically Tugger to stubbornly push on when he had been asked to back off.

"And did it work?" asked Cassandra suspecting the answer to be yes.

"Worst thing about it, of course it did" Misto said laughing. "Anything Tugger does always works out for him, he is insufferable like that" said Misto but he couldn't stop smiling. He had forgotten how much effort Tugger had put into his song only to help Misto with his magic. He could see now that he hadn't given Tugger enough credit about taking a sincere interest in his magic, it was really thanks to him that Misto got past that period in life. Even though they hadn't talked seriously and Tugger had kept teasing him afterwards with little remarks about being the original conjuring cat, his struggle had been taken very seriously by his friend. Misto's smile faded a little when he thought about that, he had to make it up to Tugger when they got back home.

"I told you he likes you" said Cassandra with another wink. "I loved that story Misto" she continued to let him decide if he wanted to comment on the first remark or not. Misto smiled but stayed silent for a while. Cassandra could see his smile fading more and more until it was gone and she could just see his lower lip start to shiver slightly as he turned his head away from her. "Hey Misto, what's wrong?" she asked and used one paw to turn his face back towards hers again.

"I just..." said Misto but he felt his throat swell up from the approaching tears.

"Come here" said Cassandra and wrapped her arms around him instead. They sat like that for a while before she spoke again. "What happened there Misto?" she asked carefully. Misto cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry" he said. "You are supposed to be the emotional one" he said and tried to laugh about it. Cassandra just smiled and stayed silent for him to continue. "I think you might be right" he said after some hesitation and Cassandra looked at him to go on. "I think he wants to be more than just friends" he finished.

"And you?" she asked.

"I think I want that too" said Misto and realised it had gotten more and more clear to him after they had left. And thinking about the first time Tugger sang his song made him realise that he might have been wanting it for a lot longer than he had realised.

"You tell him when we get home" she said. "He will wait for you" she assured him and kissed his cheek just as Berenice came back in again. The other queen got a bit startled by the closeness of the other two cats.

"Your friendship is very special" she said and they could hear that she wasn't convinced there was nothing more between them.

"Yes it is" said Misto firmly and this time none of them blushed. It didn't matter what others thought, they were friends in whatever way they felt like.

"Oh but that does not do for either of you!" said Berenice and pointed to the forgotten mouse and pouch on the ground. "I have to do everything around here, they wouldn't have gotten anything out there done if it wasn't for me but apparently I was just as much needed in here" Berenice went on and the two Jellicles chuckled as they could hear Jennyanydots words come out of her mouth. They got a stern look and were put back to work again.

After having both of their tasks cleared by Berenice she put the clean bones from the mouse inside the pouch and hung it around Cassandra's neck.

"This will act as a protection amulet for your kitten, when it arrives you put it around the kittens neck instead. It will keep both of you healthy and strong" she said without further explanation. "Now let's go out and join into the celebration with the others" she said with another motherly smile and took the lead out from the den.

* * *

At first it didn't look that different from when they left the clearing with Berenice. But then the cats of the tribe came out dancing and singing and Cassandra couldn't help but wonder how different this was from their regular moon celebrations because it resembled the Jellicle ball so much. They looked around as different cats presented what made their tribe special. A lot more of the lines included the pharaohs, the pyramids, the sphinx and of course a lot of them was about Bastet. They couldn't help but joining in at the flanks, the dancing was a lot more acrobatic than the dances they did at home and Cassandra smiled as she thought about how Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer would fit in perfectly here. They stayed close together, a bit self conscious both of them, this was not their domain of dance but the new cats tried their best to make them feel included. A group of queens invited Cassandra to join them in their dance and two toms brought Misto into their routine. But even though some of it seemed rehearsed most came naturally and both Jellicles allowed themselves to relax and enjoy the moment. After a particularly consuming dance Cleopatra called for attention to the whole tribe. The two Jellicles tried to fall back a bit but were pushed forward by the others until they sat directly in front of Cleopatra. The old queen smiled down at them, sitting on top of a broken wheel she towered over the others and Cassandra leaned in to whisper into Misto's ear. "Just like Old Deuteronomy on his tire" she whispered and Misto realised just how much they actually looked alike. He smiled back.

"I told you all earlier that these are your distant relatives and I think you all can see how easy it is for Cassandra and Mistoffelees to join in on our dance and songs" she started and the whole tribe nodded to each other. Misto got the feeling she didn't tell them how far off they are related. "When I got to know them I learned that they hold a similar celebration as we do once a year. Would you like to sing a song of your own to us?" Cleopatra asked and the two Jellicles looked at each other. They didn't sing anything together at the ball but both felt it being a great honour to be asked on an occasion like this.

"We would be honoured to" said Cassandra when they had been silent for a little too long. "Will it-" she started but then crawled forward to Cleopatra who leaned down. "Do they know about Misto's magic? We have a routine we did together last ball" she whispered and the old queen smiled.

"I was hoping you would like to show them that" Cleopatra whispered back. She straightened back up again and Cassandra sat back next to Misto giving him a wink when he raised his eyebrows in question. Cleopatra spoke to the rest of the tribe again. "I told you that these two cats were special" she started and everyone looked at the Jellicles. "Tonight you will learn that magic can be more than smoke, fire and destruction.." some of the cats hissed at her words and the looks the two Jellicles got were more hostile and some even afraid. "Magic can be a force of good as well, to heal and help and also… to entertain!" Cleopatra finished with a warm smile. The looks at the two strangers mildened somewhat but Misto still weren't sure if it wouldn't be best to just bring Cassandra out of there. He looked at his friend and saw nothing but joy and relaxed a bit.

"Are you okey with this?" he asked Cassandra lowering his voice so she was the only one to hear him.

"Of course!" she said. "You heard her Misto, I don't know what bad experience they had with magic and the one the humans practise isn't of much use, this is our chance to show them how special yours is" she said smiling and Misto smiled back weakly. "I'll help you" she added when he hesitated.

"I don't know, it feels a bit scary to perform in front everyone when I just healed, what if I fail?" said Misto and Cassandra couldn't hold back a smile. The fact that he confided his fears in her meant so much, and the realisation that she actually could help made her so happy. Misto looked confused when she didn't answer but instead turned to Cleopatra.

"Is everything okey?" the old queen asked.

" _You ought to ask Magical Mister Mistoffelees, the original conjuring cat"_ she started and Misto looked at her surprised. Then his face turned into a grin and Cassandra continued. Some of the cats looked at each other a bit sceptical. " _Please listen to me and don't scoff"_ she continued and Misto rolled his eyes at her but still smiled.

Cassandra found herself remembering most of Tugger's choreography as well as the lyrics. When she sang " _he is quiet, he is small he is black, from the ear to the tip of his tail"_ Misto flashed his real coat for a second and the audience gasped. When Cassandra forgot the lyrics at one point Misto stepped in and sang " _My manner is vague and aloof and you would think there was nobody shyer"._ They both lost themselves in the song, Misto shooting light around the crowd and the other cats seeming to have completely forgotten their earlier hostility. For the finale Misto reached out for Cassandra just the way he did last ball when he asked for her assistance.

"Hold on" he said with a cheeky smile. His whole being radiated confidence now and the contrast was so big that Cassandra couldn't hold back a laughter. She stopped abruptly when Misto conjured a big sheet over them and in an explosion of glitter they disappeared.

Cassandra pulled Misto close for a hug and they enjoyed the confusion in front of them before Cleopatra acknowledged them in the back of the clearing where Misto had brought them. They were swarmed by the tribe and nothing hostile were left, it was all admiration now. Some of the cats got back to dancing and singing but most of them pulled Misto and Cassandra into different conversations. They asked and answered questions but it felt like every conversation was cut in half before a new cat wanted their attention. After a while Misto felt himself starting to yawn. It had been such an eventful day and even though he would have wanted this evening to just go on he realised that if he was tired, so must Cassandra also be. Misto decided to act a bit like the protector of her he was supposed to be.

Cassandra looked exhausted when Misto found her and it only took one look at Cleopatra for her to understand him. They needed rest. Cleopatra led them back to their guest den with a promise to make sure there would be breakfast brought to them in the morning. The two Jellicles barely got the thanks out between yawning and as soon as Misto has pulled Cassandra close to him they fell asleep.

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 **Almost forgot, funfacts for everyone reviewing!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm sorry this has taken so long. I have been struggling with the last parts of this story and I kind of wanted it a little too perfect, well fanfics aren't supposed to be, at least not mine. With that said, we're closing in on the end, I am not sure how much more is to come but we are getting there and I will try really hard to finish this story.**

 **Thank you so much to my reviewers! I am taking in suggestions and questions and try to acknowledge them the best I can, I love it when you interact with me and constructive criticism is like my favourite gift ever! Fun facts for you all!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Cats and it can't be pointed out enough that I am no expert on ancient Egypt (more details about this chapter in the end to not spoil the storyline).**

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Misto woke up to a gentle tap on the door to their den and looked over Cassandra's shoulder. At the entrance he saw the face of the young, white kitten that had first accepted them yesterday. Her eyes widened at the sight of the two Jellicle's lying together and she blushed and pulled her head back out again.

"Wait!" said Misto trying to both whisper so he wouldn't wake Cassandra and shout to make sure the young cat heard him. Cassandra woke up with a jerk and looked at him confused. "I'm sorry, wait here" said Misto and got up to go after the white kitten that he couldn't remember the name of. When he came outside he saw that the white kitten had waited for him outside, still blushing and looking at the ground. "Good morning" said Misto to start somewhere.

"Go-good morning" stuttered the kitten shifting uncomfortably where she stood.

"I'm sorry, I think I forgot your name from yesterday" he said and smiled apologetically. "I'm Mistoffelees, but you can call me Misto" he said and held out his paw, hoping she would accept him today as well.

"I'm Ineni, you can call me Ini" she said quietly but reached out her paw to touch his.

"Would you like to come back in? You are very welcome to" said Misto gesturing towards their den.

"Okey" said Ini. "I brought breakfast for you" she said and now Misto saw the fish that lay at her feet.

"That's so kind of you, thank you!" he said. "Come on in, are you hungry? Please join us" said Misto and heard himself babbling. He smiled and remembered how Cassandra had told him to stop and listen when he got nervous instead of keep on talking. Ini nodded a bit confused but followed him when he went inside.

"Hello" said Cassandra when they entered. "You are Ineni, right?" she asked the white kitten with a smile and sat up.

"Yes" said Ineni and smiled back at her. "But you can call me Ini" she explained. Misto looked at them and thought Ini sounded a bit more relaxed when Cassandra was around.

"Ini brought breakfast for us" Misto told Cassandra.

"How sweet of you!" said Cassandra. "Do you want to eat with us?" she asked and Ini nodded. She sat down facing Cassandra and Misto sat down next to his Jellicle friend and stroked her down the back.

"Did you sleep well? You don't feel sick? It is fish, is the smell too much?" Misto asked Cassandra with a worried frown. He felt like he had to take a much bigger responsibility in her now and he didn't want to miss on any signs that she wasn't feeling well.

"I'm fine Misto" said Cassandra with a chuckle. "Just because I am pregnant doesn't mean I can't take care of myself" she explained to Ini who looked a bit uncomfortable. "The fish is perfect, thank you" she said to Ini and gave Misto a look to back off and relax.

"I think it's sweet that your mate wants to take extra good care of you when you're pregnant" said Ini quietly and smiled at Misto.

"Thank you Ini" said Misto and then he realised what she had said and blushed. "I mean, ehm, we are not mates, just friends" he muttered. Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Oh, it's uncommon for queens and toms to be friends like that" said Ini, but her comment was curious rather than judging.

"It is a special friendship" said Cassandra giving Misto a nudge to the shoulder to snap out of it. "But I thought about that yesterday, you only danced queens with queens and toms with toms, where we come from you can dance with both, do you never dance queens with toms here?" she asked as she started to eat the fish, making a sign for the others to join in.

"Only during the mating dance" said Ini and grabbed some fish for herself as well.

"During the moon celebration?" Misto asked and Ini nodded. 'Just like they did at home' thought Misto and smiled.

"At the end of the celebration, does anything special happen?" asked Cassandra carefully. She had wanted to ask about this the whole evening yesterday but hadn't known how.

"One of the cats get selected to go to the underworld and hopefully join Osiris and the other gods in the next life, we believe the spirit comes back in the form of a new cat" Ini explained and Cassandra looked at Misto and smiled. It felt unbelievable that during these 4000 years so little had changed and still so much was forgotten about where it originated from.

"Can anyone get selected?" asked Misto and Ini started to look a bit uncomfortable again.

"It's..ehm.." she started and bit her lip.

"It's okey if you don't want to tell" said Misto smiling. He really wanted to know but he would much rather have Ini relax again.

"No it's not that" she said. "Ehm.. it's just that we do it very differently from other tribes around here" she said and both Jellicle's raised their eyebrows surprised and intrigued. "We select a cat that we think most deserves to go and join the gods and have all the luxury and comfort that the next life can bring" said ini with a smile.

"But not the other tribes?" Misto couldn't stop himself from asking. Ini got a frown between her eyebrows.

"No they..." she started but they could see this was hard for her. "They select the cat they think the gods deserve most" she said and now it was time for the Jellicle's to frown.

"How do you mean?" asked Cassandra.

"It's..ehm it's not something we talk about" she said now very uncomfortable but it also looked like she had a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Oh, eh, that's okey" said Cassandra but she gave Misto a worried glance. They kept eating in silence for a while and then they heard someone outside. Ini tensed up a bit and looked at the door, but when Cleopatra entered she relaxed again.

"Hello, have you slept well?" asked the old queen smiling.

"Yes, thank you" they both answered politely.

"Thank you Ineni for bringing breakfast to our guests" she smiled at the young kitten who made an excuse and started to leave. "Don't forget your fish" Cleopatra reminded her and made sure Ini got a bit extra fish to bring home to her own den. They watched her leave and then Cleopatra turned to the two Jellicles. She looked a bit tired. "I was thinking I would take you both to a temple today, I know you don't have much faith in the magic we practice here but it's still a ritual we would love to pass on to a pregnant relative" she said with a wink at Misto and Cassandra felt her cheeks get warm out of thankfulness.

"Thank you so much, I would love that" Cassandra said happily. She felt so well looked after even though she forgot herself that she was pregnant half the time, but soon it would start to show and she would have to accept more and more help whether she liked it or not.

"Then it's settled" said Cleopatra and they went outside together. Misto tried to bring some extra fish for Cassandra in case she got more hungry but she just waved him off. It was harder to accept the help coming from him, for some reason Cassandra rather felt like she was the one having to protect her friend. He was so precious to her and understood her better than anyone, but it was also a bit scary to have someone so attuned to your needs when you were used to taking care of yourself.

They went through the city together, Cleopatra telling them about it and showing them new places. Misto got a feeling she was trying to act casual when in reality she had something troubling on her mind. He decided to let it go for now, but something had happened after they went to sleep last night and he had to find out what it was sooner or later. But instead it was Cassandra who brought out the reaction.

"Ineni told us about the sacrifices of other tribes at the moon celebration, is that the only time of the year they do that?" Cassandra asked and it sounded like she was talking about the weather, but something in Misto told him that she had a similar hunch about the older queens behaviour. Cleopatra stiffened before she spoke.

"We don't normally talk about that" she said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Something is going on Cleopatra, please tell us?" Misto broke in, deciding it was no time to tiptoe around the subject anymore. Cleopatra looked them both in the eyes seriously and then spoke.

"There is something going on in one of the tribes, we had some issues during the night but now everything is secure and well guarded, as long as you stay with one of us there will be no trouble, that's all I will tell you now" she said.

"But-" Misto tried.

"That's all I will tell you now" she repeated, looking them both in the eyes again, before she continued towards the temple, this time they travelled in silence.

* * *

When they reached the temple the tension between them started to ease and the anticipation of what was to come made them refocus. Cleopatra seemed eager to show them the temple and her excitement transferred to the two Jellicles. The temple looked deserted but a low, monotonous speech was heard from somewhere inside. Cassandra felt the presence of the past. It was such a weird feeling to experience the past. With the perspective from the future everything had seemed so exciting and special but most of what they saw was everyday life. Even this, going into the temple which was to her an almost divine experience, seemed so casual to Cleopatra, the only excitement to her was the thrill of showing them. Cassandra turned her head towards Misto and at the same time she felt him press her paw in his gently. She smiled, there was no one she'd rather experience this with.

"The humans perform a little ritual before entering the temple of Bastet, but we can just enter as we are" said Cleopatra and lead the way in. They walked deeper into the temple and the voice they heard got louder, but it was still a low, almost like a humming tune that travelled between the walls. "Do you see the cats?" asked Cleopatra and Mistoffelees and Cassandra looked at each other confused. Cleopatra raised a paw and pointed out a statue of Bastet carved in the wall. As soon as they saw it the whole temple around them seemed to change. What had before been asymmetries in the walls now all took shapes of cats. Cats lying, sitting, jumping, kittens and queens. Cassandra's eyes widened and she had to stop to adjust her eyes, it almost felt like the temple was spinning and she could feel her mouth getting dry from being left open. Misto again grabbed her paw and squeezed it. It felt like an anchor to the present and she gave him a thankful smile.

Cleopatra had caught the change in mood and slowed her pace. She could see that this was very emotional to her two guests and she knew the power. She might have appeared unmoved when they entered the temple but she had no problem remembering the first time she had went there. It was ages ago but the feeling was still powerful. To be in the presence of a god so much alike yourself, that celebrated the finest qualities of being a feline, it was both humbling and filled with pride. Cleopatra let the two cats have a moment to themselves, they whispered quietly to one another and she could see that tears wasn't that far off. After a while they seemed to compose themselves and Cassandra turned to Cleopatra.

"Thank you for bringing us here" said Cassandra with a smile.

"It is truly my pleasure" answered Cleopatra and nuzzled her lovingly. She went over to Misto and did the same.

"What is the proper way to behave in here?" asked Cassandra. She had not been able to control the first reactions but now she was wondering if it was okey to speak, touch things, go anywhere.

"You can be yourselves, think of it as a library…ehm, do you have libraries?" asked Cleopatra and the two Jellicles chuckled and nodded. Some things were timeless."Then just keep your voice down and put everything back where you found it" said the old queen with a wink.

They stayed in the temple a long time. Cleopatra showed them what felt like every nook and cranny of it and the heavy seriousness of the place lightened in time. Before they left they went to the woman who was humming at an altar. The woman greeted them all and Cleopatra managed to get her to understand that Cassandra was pregnant. Misto did not know how she could communicate that well with the humans around her, but Cleopatra seemed to have a special connection with everything she encountered. Misto was certain that she wasn't magical, but it was like she used the magic that was all around them as a communication channel. He had never met anyone so perceptive of the magic in everyday things.

The woman in the temple carefully reached down and stroked Cassandra over the back. Misto felt himself tense up, afraid that something could happen to his friend. A look at Cassandra and Cleopatra made him relax again. There was a female aura in the temple, and Misto could feel himself being a bit disconnected from the others. He wondered if it would be different had he been the father of the kitten Cassandra carried. He started to understand his conflicting feelings from earlier. Cassandra was a friend like no one else and the feelings between them were stronger than anything he had ever felt, both in friendship and attraction. He wanted to be a part of her life no matter what.

The woman carefully lifted up Cassandra and put her on the altar. It made Misto cringe inside but he tried to stay calm. The woman gently stroke over Cassandra's belly that still showed no signs of her pregnancy. Then she started her humming again. It seemed like Cassandra was absolutely relaxed but Misto got more anxious. Just when he felt like interfering he felt the touch of Cleopatra as she planted her paw on his shoulder. The old queen gave him an understanding smile and Misto knew he could trust her. This was something important and he needed to focus on that instead of his own worries. He smiled inwardly as he thought about what Alonzo would have reacted like. The other tom would probably have been worried sick about his mate and even though Misto felt grateful for Cassandra having such a loving mate, him being here now would not be helpful. Misto reminded himself to act like her friend and put some of the protective instincts aside. She needed him to support her in this. Misto jerked when he realised that most of his reasoning was being projected to him through the gentle touch of Cleopatra's paw on his shoulder. It was like the calmness and sense entered his mind through that connection and he looked at the old queen with respect. She might not perform magic but she definitely knew the nature of it.

* * *

When they came out of the temple again Cassandra looked happy and relaxed. It had been a very special visit. Nothing had changed really, and the woman had done nothing more than just humming in a low tune and stroke her but everything felt differently now. She felt like she had got the blessing of her ancestors to welcome a new relative into the world.

They took the way back to the junkyard past the marketplace and then Cleopatra strayed off towards the pyramids and the unfinished sphinx. It felt like weeks ago that they sat by the sphinx watching the sun go down on their first day in Egypt. They followed her to the exact same spot where they had been sitting and both Cassandra and Misto felt a bit uneasy thinking back to the emotions that had come over them then.

"This is my favourite place" said Cleopatra to their surprise and they watched the old queen look out at the monuments and people moving around below them.

"Why?" said Cassandra confused before she could stop herself.

"I have been around long enough to see this place without any of these monuments and with the people suffering and starving" she said and straightened up a bit. "To see what can rise out of the ashes after the fire had died in so many eyes is the closest I've come to see magic do any good in this world, before you came along Mistoffelees" she said to Misto and he looked down blushing. Cleopatra put a paw under his chin, lifting it up to meet her eyes. "You should be proud" she said with a smile and then let go of him to take in the view again. All three cats sat there just watching for some time before Cassandra cleared her throat.

"It must really be wonderful to see such man made creations spring out of nothing.." she started and hesitated a little about how to put the rest of her thoughts.

"But?" asked Cleopatra who of course had sensed there was something like that coming. Cassandra smiled apologetically.

"It's just that… when we got here we thought we would be astonished by the pyramids, the temples and especially the sphinx but.." she said but hesitated again. Cleopatra gave her a look to continue, Cassandra took a deep breath and went on. "But the admiration kind of faded away because of the, ehm, slavery" she said and could physically feel the words coming out wrong.

"The slavery?" said Cleopatra surprised. The two Jellicle's looked at her equally surprised.

"Ehm, the people getting forced and, ehm whipped, to work" Misto explained a bit taken aback by the genuine surprise in Cleopatra's voice.

"Ah, those people are criminals and I think they are all relieved to be given the grace of the pharaoh to pay their debt with work instead of with their lives." she said matter-of-factly but looked confused at the two Jellicle's horrified expressions. "Slavery is a horrible way of treating people" said Cleopatra looking upset.

"And this is not!?" Cassandra bit her tongue but the question was already out.

"Making people who have done wrong make something right again? I would think that is more than fair punishment and I think the ones convicted would agree with me as well" said Cleopatra and the so normally calm queen was now thoroughly upset. Cassandra wished she had never asked but the questions gnawed on her lips to open.

"You may have a point in that" she said and then took a deep breath. "But the rest of the people, who has done no crimes, they work just as hard, and the pharaohs live in luxury, with gold and servants, and the people are almost starving-" she started but got cut off.

"Yes, _almost,_ who do you think keeps them from starving to death?" asked Cleopatra looking at them both sharply. "There isn't any other work around here but for the pharaoh right now, nothing grows, the Nile hasn't flooded in three years, do you think the pharaoh has more servants than he needs out of ignorance for the people suffering? He employs more people than he needs to save them" said Cleopatra. Her voice got softer when she saw that this was news to her relatives. "Working for the pharaoh means payment in food instead of in gold and at this point there is very little you can buy for gold. All everyone wants is food and there is nothing for no one to spare. The people have no use of gold but the pharaoh can use his gold and power to trade with others" she explained. "No pharaoh I've met has had any slaves, do they.." Cleopatra started and to the surprise of Cassandra and Misto tears formed in her eyes. "Does that change in the future?" she asked.

Cassandra looked at Misto and saw her own miserable feelings mirror in his eyes. She closed her eyes and thought back hard at what she had heard at the museum during the years she had come there. 'What did they say about slaves?' she thought but she came out blank. There was nothing else but 'workers' as she recalled how the different guides spoke about the people building the monuments and working for the pharaoh. Cassandra went through it all again but all she could come up with was the descriptions of the working conditions of the people of ancient Egypt. She had just assumed that people living under these circumstances must be slaves, no one would choose that kind of life if they had the opportunity not to. Cassandra opened her eyes again. That was the key. That was what Cleopatra had tried to tell them. There was no other options for the people if they wanted to survive.

"No, I don't think there will be any slavery in the future" said Cassandra looking up at Cleopatra. "I'm sorry.." she said "I had no idea..." she started but didn't know how to continue. Cleopatra nodded.

"I'm glad you don't" said Cleopatra. "That means life will get easier for my kittens and grandkittens" they all looked out at the view of the pyramids and the sphinx and once again the image changed with the new perspective. "Every pharaoh has his quirks but they all care for their people. Even now when times are this rough you can rely on the pharaoh to take care of them, and in turn the people takes care of us" she said with a smile.

They sat in silence for a long time just thinking and watching the workers. Cassandra could now see the sphinx for something more than just a grand monument over a powersick pharaoh. She thought about the phrase she sung at the Jellicle ball and realised that being here when the pharaoh commissioned the sphinx was a privilege. This was a monument over how much more you can accomplish when you are not alone. If everyone only thought of themselves some would have an abundance and most would just die, but working together most people would overcome. That took a great leader. It wasn't fair to compare life to the standards of the people of modern London. 4000 years had passed and Cleopatra was right, life was easier at home.

* * *

To their surprise the sun was already starting to set again. They had been through so much today that time had just flown by and still it felt like days since they woke up this morning. Misto looked over at Cassandra. They had both been embarrassed for being so ignorant at first but he was very proud of his friend for pressing on and daring to ask questions he himself wasn't sure he wanted the answers to. Misto had been on the brim of stopping Cassandra several times when he saw Cleopatra getting more upset, but everytime the old queen had looked over at him he had felt that wave from earlier flowing through him, telling him that Cassandra needed to do this. Even being so upset Cleopatra had realised that this was something that needed to be addressed and that Misto would be the one who'd rather play it off as a misunderstanding and not take it seriously. Misto wasn't so sure anymore if it had been only Cleopatra who made him think like that or if he was starting to recognise the feelings better as they came to him. Ever since he first made that contact with Cassandra at the ball he had felt the importance of taking things more seriously when they mattered to him. It had just been so easy before to laugh and make fun when a conflict breached the surface but now he was more intrigued by what could come out of it. Cassandra had been brave enough from the beginning to ask the questions she wanted answered and to pursue an interest even though no one shared it. Misto couldn't be more proud of her.

They came back to the junkyard without having spoken a word and Cleopatra tensed as they were greeted back by a tall abyssinian tom.

"What is wrong?" the old queen asked.

"Everything is under control now, but we have ordered everybody back to their dens for the night" the tall cat said and Cleopatra seemed to relax just a bit. "We got really worried when we couldn't find you or the, ehm, guests" he said and glanced over at the Jellicles. Cleopatra put on a stern look before she answered.

"They have been with me the whole time and whatever happened has nothing to do with them" she said and the tall cat shrunk a bit and nodded. "Go back to the others, I will join you soon" she said and the tom turned back into the junkyard. "I will have to leave you in your den for the night I'm afraid" said Cleopatra and raised her paw when Misto tried to protest. "I would tell you more, but for now I know nothing more than you do" she said and Misto had to nod. "You will be safe in your den and I will come and tell you more in the morning, okey?" she said.

"Please do" said Cassandra. "And if there is anything we can do to help just let us know" she added as Cleopatra followed them back to their den.

"I will, but for now, rest and eat, there are some fish left from this morning" said Cleopatra and before leaving she stopped and looked at them. "Thank you so much for today, you should never be afraid to ask uncomfortable questions as long as you are prepared to listen for the answer" she said with a smile and left before the two Jellicles could answer.

"Go lie down and I'll bring you some food" said Misto and Cassandra felt herself appreciating him taking care of her. Something had changed inside the temple today. She didn't feel weak getting help now, only loved.

"Thank you" she said and they ate the last of the fish. Both thinking about everything that had happened today and what had happened at the junkyard while they were gone. Before they got to voicing their worries they both started yawning.

"Come here" said Misto and pulled Cassandra close to hold her through the night. "I am so proud of you" he whispered in her ear as they started to fall asleep. They both closed their eyes with a smile on the lips.

* * *

 **In this chapter I have tried to focus on the difference a perspective can make. To be honest there is no absolute truth about how the pharaos treated their people. It has been argued back and forth and even though the people then would not call themselves slaves there has been several historians who has done so. Sometimes it is hard to judge history with the glasses we wear today and the truth is probably either view. Anyway, I hope you can appreciate that I play around a bit with perspective :)**

 **Oh and that scene in the temple is all out of my brain, I've done no research whatsoever, I just improvised.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm so sorry, this takes forever. I'm having a hard time sitting down and writing when there is so much light outside, we currently have 19 hours of daylight here, super fantastic! Though it means I spend most of my time outdoors.**

 **Any way, I'm also going to leave you with a cliffhanger this time, oops.**

 **I love the reviews, they really help me push on, fun facts for everyone!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Cats and is no expert on ancient Egypt (Which doesn't really matter in this chapter ;)** **)**

* * *

The next day they were woken up by a nearby cat fight. They both jerked up from sleep and was on high alert a second later, but the fight ended soon.

"Want to go out and see what happened?" asked Misto. He couldn't help but being curious, it didn't sound like any of the cats they had met before.

"Yeah sure" said Cassandra, she had been scared at first but it sounded like there was no problem outside at the moment.

When they got outside they saw a lone cat with an orange tone to his abyssinian coat sit and clean out a superficial wound he probably got in the fight. The two Jellicles looked at each other and nodded. The cat might try and fight them as well but they had been wrong not to trust Cleopatra and the others at first. For some reason they both felt like they had to take a leap of faith this time.

"Hello, are you okey?" asked Misto carefully, hoping communication would be as easy as it was with Cleopatra's tribe.

"You talk funny" said the other cat but it seemed like he had understood him even though he didn't answer the question.

"Well, we aren't from here, we came with some merchants by boat" he said, deciding last minute to not give away too much, there was something about this cat that Misto couldn't place. "My name is Mistoffelees and this is Cassandra, what is your name?" he tried, Cassandra stood close by in silence.

"I see, you look awfully a lot like each other, are you twins or something?" the cat asked, still not answering the question but obviously understanding what Misto said.

"Ehm yes, this is my brother" said Cassandra who felt like she should say something. The lie had passed her lips before she had thought it over and she saw Misto start a little, but he didn't protest. The cat stopped cleaning himself and went over to them, he circled Cassandra.

"So this one talks as well" the cat said and the two Jellicles could feel themselves stiffen a little. They weren't sure if this cat was only sarcastic or if he played at something else. The cat brushed his nose along Cassandra's back and smelled her. "Do you know you're pregnant?" he asked.

"Ehm, yes" she said. The action had given her chills down her spine. He smelled faintly of something sharp and even though he had just cleaned himself the coat looked dusty. Whatever this cat knew it wouldn't be worth it staying around finding out Cassandra realised and looked at Misto with a worried frown on her face.

"We were just leaving for breakfast" said Misto who thought he had seen some distress in Cassandra's eyes. "It was a pleasure to meet you, take care!" said Misto and they started to leave.

"Hey, hey, wait, I was only joking around" said the other cat but it didn't seem completely sincere. "I didn't mean to be rude with you Mistoffelees, or with you _Cassandra_ " he said and the two Jellicles felt something dulling their minds as he spoke their names. "My name is Menkaure" said the cat and the two Jellicles gave each other a trying glance.

"Oh, eh, haha, ehm nice to meet you" said Misto trying to determine whether or not they should trust instinct or experience. He decided that he was probably just overprotective of Cassandra and should give Menkaure the benefit of a doubt.

"I wasn't so sure I could trust you with that accent of yours" said the other cat slowly and they relaxed a little. There was still something that was off with this cat. "I guess I'm just used to taking precautions, there are a lot of rumours going around town right now" said Menkaure with a laugh that sounded more like a demand for them to laugh with him. They both tried weakly.

"I guess that makes sense" said Cassandra with a forced smile. "Anyway, we were just leaving for something to eat, maybe we will see you around Menkaure" she continued. She was eager to get back to Cleopatra and ask her what she knew about this cat. But when she tried to turn she felt a paw grip around her wrist, not so hard that it hurt, but hard enough that she had to stop and turn around again. Cassandra felt herself relaxing a bit in his hold even though something in her told her she shouldn't.

"Let me show you the best place to eat in town" Menkaure said looking deep into her eyes. She swallowed hard and looked at Misto. He shrugged his shoulders and they followed the other cat.

Misto had also got the questionable vibes from the other tom, but he couldn't come up with one reason not to follow him that wasn't based solely on a hunch. The explanation had been plausible and Menkaure had every reason to be careful as well. There _were_ strange rumours going around town right now. If bad came to worse he would step up and protect them both. But it felt like they both had forgotten something important. It was like the distant sound of a warning bell rang at the back of his mind but everytime Menkaure spoke it died down.

They soon entered the marketplace where they had passed before. The smell of fish wasn't as prominent today and Cassandra seemed to manage. Menkaure led them through the market and into a bystreet in the area where the people lived. Misto registered that the other cats they met stayed out of their way and made certain not to look them in the eyes. He had a bad feeling about this, but he remembered the sceptical looks they had gotten when they travelled along Cleopatra as well. They stopped outside one of the houses that looked like it had a basement and Menkaure knocked what sounded like a special combination on a window shutter. Two other cats appeared from the other side within seconds like they had been stationed there waiting. Menkaure smiled at them and made a gesture for them to enter. Cassandra smiled back and entered, but she grabbed Misto's paw firmly. As soon as they got inside Cassandra and Misto were quickly cornered with no possibility of escape. They looked at each other frightened.

"You two are not twins" said Menkaure and they both felt the panic grow when they saw the grin on his face. Cassandra tried to hold onto a fleeing thought about an advice they had gotten yesterday but when Menkaure spoke up again it slipped away. Menkaure turned towards Misto. "And _you_ are a magic cat" he said matter-of-factly. He could have been speaking about the weather for all what his voice gave away but the spark in his eyes made both the Jellicle cats feel like falling from the inside of the pyramid again. Misto stepped in front of Cassandra so that he was covering most of her from the other cats.

"Yes" said Misto and let his camouflage drop. Whatever happened he would never let them hurt Cassandra, and since Cassandra depended on him to go back to her mate he had to value his own safety just as high. He didn't want any magic being used on anything else but their safe escape from there when the time came. This strange cat made him feel both more powerful and at the same time weak. Like he couldn't reach all of his magic but knew it exceeded everything Menkaure could throw at him. But Misto couldn't really focus. Still, he was curious to hear what it was that the other cat knew, there was nothing Misto had wanted to know as much when they left as if there had been magical cats around as far back in time as they now were.

"I'm impressed" said Menkaure raising an eyebrow. He had immediately recognized Mistoffelees as a magical cat by the smell of him. He had never met another magical cat and the thrill had been hard to contain. There had been a different smell about the queen as well but when he got to smell her more closely he had realised it was just her being pregnant. That didn't interest him but he figured it was a good cover to focus on her since most cats felt a certain grade of responsibility when it came to pregnant queens. When they tried to leave he had used his own special kind of magic to persuade them. It didn't work as well as it normally did but it worked well enough.

"I bet you can do the same if you tried it" said Misto casually but he was dying of curiosity to find out what the other cat could do. But he wasn't about to risk anything happening to his friend. He hadn't realised it before but now he could feel the faint smell of smoke coming from the other tom, a smell that he had only felt from the one other magical cat he had encountered before. He shivered at the possibility of this being an ancient relative to the Napoleon of crime.

"I have never tried" said Menkaure irritated at the casual tone of Mistoffelees, he was used to spreading fear among the cats around him, these cats weren't as easy to control. "I work mostly with the laws of gravity" he said with a smirk and Cassandra and Misto saw him levitate a few inches above the ground. Menkaure always felt the most powerful as he towered above his victims. But Mistoffelees did not look impressed. Menkaure felt the rage build up inside him. He held out his paws in front of him. "And fire" he said and produced a flame in each paw, holding the fire in front of him. Now finally he could see something change in the eyes of Mistoffelees.

"I am certain this would be very impressive..." started Misto. "...unless you have seen it all before" he said with his most unimpressed voice and he could see something flame up inside the eyes of the other tom before Menkaure laughed.

"You're a funny cat" he said snapping his fingers, making the fire die out. Menkaure slowly let himself down to the ground again. "Follow me" he said turning around.

"We would rather be going" whispered Cassandra, but she couldn't remember why. There was just a funny feeling, something Cleopatra had said. She got a sharp look from Menkaure.

"In time.." he started and cleaned something from between his teeth with a long claw. "In time I will let you.. move on" he said and turned again. The two cats who had guarded the door moved towards the Jellicles and Misto held up a paw indicating that they would follow. He didn't want them near Cassandra and things didn't feel safe anymore. When Menkaure had turned around he felt himself sober up. The other cat must have done something to their minds. Misto was just about to grab Cassandra by her paw and get them out of there when he saw a shadow in the corner of his eye. Something hit his friend in the back of her head, making it jerk forward and before Misto could react he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and everything went black.

Too late he had remembered the now clear warning Cleopatra had given them yesterday. _As long as you stay with one of us there will be no trouble._


End file.
